A New Kind of Brave
by WarriorMermaid
Summary: After Last One Out of Beach City, Pearl reaches out to the mysterious woman and enters completely new territory as they spend more time together and get to know each other. Pearl thought that after the gem war, she could handle anything. But this? This is terrifying to her.
1. Chapter 1

The Morning After Last One Out of Beach City

"Steven, Steven! Steven!" The young boy heard a voice shouting his name, louder and more urgently as he was shaken awake. He couldn't help but flinch a little bit as he opened his eyes only to be met with a pair of familiar, blue ones accompanied by a big, pointy nose. "Pearl!" He said as he scooted away slightly. "Are you okay? Are Garnet and Amethyst—what's going on?" Pearl's tone immediately changed when she realized that she had startled the boy.

"Yes, yes, everything's okay, I was just wondering if I could…" and then trailed off as Steven's confusion increased. It's not like any of the gems ever needed his permission for anything; it was always the other way around.

"Pearl?" He asked, still concerned.

 _"I was wondering if I can use your, um, your phone!"_ Pearl's voice turned to an urgent whisper as she blushed furiously.

"Sure, Pearl, um, why?" He muttered, still quite groggy.

Pearl didn't think that it was possible for her to blush even more, but somehow she managed to. "I want to call the girl! I've been thinking about it all night, I know just what I'll say now, I'm finally ready and I can't wait any longer!"

"The—girl?" Steven's memory of the previous night slowly returned, "Oh, the girl from the show! Um, Pearl? It's 6 am on a Saturday, she's probably still asleep."

"Oh," Pearl muttered, looking defeated.

"You should totally call her later today though!"

Pearl managed a small smile before she let out a deep, dramatic sigh and flopped down on her back next to the boy. "But what am I supposed to do until then?!"

Steven was doing his best to be supportive the blue-eyed gem as he knew how much she needed this, but it was difficult when he was still partially asleep. "Um, I don't know, isn't that like no time at all for someone as old as you?"

"I guess that's true," Pearl sighed, as she heard the temple door open and saw a familiar fusion gem step into the living room below her. "Oh! I have to tell Garnet! She's going to be so surprised!"

"Yeah, Pearl, you do that. Quietly, please," Steven said as he drifted back to sleep.

That Afternoon

Steven returned to the temple after having been out walking on the boardwalk and let the door slam loudly behind him. "Pearl!" he shouted, "Pearl?" But the ivory-skinned gem was nowhere to be seen, nor was anyone else. "Oh, um, okay then." It only took a few minutes for Pearl to appear in the temple door, and the boy rushed over to her with stars in his eyes. "I bet the girl's awake now! You should call her!" Pearl's blue eyes grew huge and scared.

"Oh, no, no, Steven, I can't do it, I never talk to humans, what would I even say to someone like her?! I'm not ready." The tall gem tried to turn away from the hybrid and walk back to her room, if for no other reason than to exit this conversation, but Steven blocked her way.

"Come on," Steven whined, "You fought a thousand year gem war! A little phone conversation should be no big deal."

Logically speaking, he was right, of course. Pearl knew this. But she couldn't explain the way that just the thought of this girl sent shivers up her spine and left her weak in the knees. Steven couldn't possibly understand, could he? Pearl was entering completely unknown territory, and suddenly Homeworld's soldiers seemed downright cuddly in comparison. Steven noticed as Pearl's focus shifted from him to all of the thoughts, feelings, and anticipation swirling around her head, but got her attention back by placing his hand in hers, looking straight into her eyes, and saying, "Listen, Pearl, I know you're nervous about this and it's all new, but you can do it. Clearly she likes you, and you don't want to miss out on this opportunity. And besides, you're so great, who wouldn't want to get to know you?"

The hybrid boy finished with a big smile, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and offered it to Pearl once again. She couldn't help but grin along with him, but still muttered, "Not now," before disappearing back into her room, leaving Steven looking disheartened behind her.

It was a few more hours before Pearl emerged again, this time with a determined look on her face. As she walked past Steven, she muttered, "I'm ready." The boy responded to this by silently handing the gem his phone and staring at her starry-eyed. Pearl noticed this and was immediately self-conscious. This was hard enough without an audience. And the last thing she wanted was Garnet or Amethyst to join in the fun. So Pearl set off for the lighthouse, in hopes that a little bit of walking and nature could calm her nerves, as she carefully took the bit of paper from her gem and dialed the number. Her anticipation grew with every ring, until Pearl heard a low voice on the other end, "Hello?"

"Hello! Ah, yes, this is Pearl from the rock show. Do you remember me? I sure hope so, I was the girl with pointy, peach hair—you asked how I colored it, remember? Oh, and I have a big pearl on my forehead!" Pearl couldn't help but ramble a bit as she hoped desperately that the girl liked her and wanted to hear what she had to say. It was so odd; she'd never cared about what a human thought before, and rarely said much to them at all (Greg and Connie being exceptions, of course).

"Hey, oh yeah I remember you, you're illusion of light girl. You saved my planet, right?" The girl responded jokingly.

Pearl, not quite getting the humor, responded, "Yes, that is correct!" And then her mind went blank. All the things she had thought of to say, suddenly gone. What did this girl even want from her anyway? She desperately searched her brain for something smart or witty to say, but nothing was coming, and she couldn't take the awkward silence. Thankfully, the girl cut in.

"Umm hey? You still there?"

"Yes, yes, I'm still here! I'm sorry, I couldn't think of what to say, to be honest I've never done this before," Pearl got more flustered with every word and was thankful that no one was around to see her blushing.

"Don't worry about it, you're doing fine. So…you want to hang out?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Okay, tonight work for you?"

"Tonight?! Oh, um, yes."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Definitely." Pearl could feel herself beginning to freak out at the thought of actually seeing this girl again, but she absolutely knew she wanted to.

"Okay. Meet you on the boardwalk at 7?"

"Yes."

"Heh, okay. Bye Pearl, see you soon." The mysterious girl hung up, and Pearl flopped dramatically onto the grass.


	2. Chapter 2

"I cannot believe that just happened," the gem said to herself, her whole body filling up with a crazy mix of excitement and fear as she realized that she'd never had this kind of interaction with a human and had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

"Pearl!" A voice called. The gem looked up just in time to see a very excited Steven tackle her into a hug. "That was great! Are you so excited?!"

"Um, yeah I guess so," Pearl was still a bit flustered, and couldn't believe that the boy had been able to follow her the whole time without her noticing. It was a little embarrassing, really.

"I bet she's going to be so awesome! Have you told Amethyst? She'll freak out!"

"Um, yeah, Steven, let's go back to the temple so I can get ready, okay?"

"Pearl, you already look great," the hybrid boy replied. But that wasn't exactly what the tall gem meant. She had one afternoon to soak up as much of her friends' dating and/or human knowledge as possible. And Garnet and Amethyst had literally thousands of years of experience, but after Rose, um, left the picture, Pearl had no idea where to even begin with this new girl. As soon as the pair walked in the door of their house, Steven shouted, "Amethyst! Garnet! You'll never believe what just happened!" Amethyst happened to be in the kitchen, ran to Pearl, and gave her a squeezing, shaking kind of a hug, all while yelling incoherently.

"Ahhhhhhh yeah, P! When's the big date?"

"Tonight, 7 o'clock" Steven answered, as Pearl still wasn't exactly coherent. Amethyst's excitement quickly turned to shock.

"You sure you're ready?"

Pearl, summoning her leftover courage from the night before, responded, "Well it's happening, hope she's ready for me!"

Amethyst quickly gave the taller gem a high five and a smile, to cover up her anxiety about the situation. Of course she was excited, but she couldn't see Pearl hurt; not again. Luckily, at that moment, the warp pad at the other side of the temple activated and in walked a tall fusion. "Garnet!" The purple gem shouted, "You'll never believe what Pearl's got planned for tonight!" Due to future vision, Garnet did know what the plan was, though she let the others excitedly explain it to her anyway.

The fusion took Pearl aside and told her, "Pearl. You can do this. You are smart and brave. Be confident, be honest, show her the best Pearl you can. Try to stay as loose as possible. I know it can be scary." Garnet shot the ivory-skinned gem a quick smile, which was quickly returned. "Oh, and have fun! Don't come back without a good story."

The rest of the afternoon was spent giving Pearl as much dating advice as she could possibly comprehend, and then some. While she did appreciate it, this was doing nothing to calm her nerves. She tried to remember as much of the advice as possible, though she felt she'd inevitably end up forgetting something important. How on Earth did humans do this? Pearl felt ready to explode.

"Well, it's nearly seven, I'd better get going," Pearl stuttered as she got up from the couch.

"Oh, and Pearl?" Steven added, "Maybe save the whole 'I'm a rebel from another planet and I'm thousands of years old' thing for the second or third date."

"You think?" She asked nervously.

"Definitely," Garnet agreed, and Amethyst gave her an encouraging nod. With as much confidence as she could muster, Pearl walked out of the house and along the beach to meet the mystery woman.

Soon after the door had shut, Steven asked, "Are we really not going to watch, you know, just to make sure everything goes okay?" He blushed.

"Of course not," Amethyst joked, "We could never embarrass her like that!"

"Go get the binoculars," Garnet said with a smile, and soon they were off on their stealth mission.

Pearl walked along the beach, trying not to scare herself too much with thoughts of what was ahead. She had survived a thousand year gem war and faced huge armies of quartz soldiers, but somehow this was more intimidating. _How is that even possible?_ She wondered. Pearl soon found a quiet bench on the boardwalk to sit on, though she was very acutely aware of the looks that people were giving her. She realized that it had been ages since she had wandered into town alone. In Beach City, it seemed like everyone knew each other, but nobody really knew her. Most just saw her as one of the "magical ladies," as the mayor had once called them, or as a member of Steven's family, since most people knew him. Pearl felt as if she'd been waiting forever for the girl to join her, even though she knew it had actually only been a few minutes. She usually paid so little attention to Earth time, as she had no real need for it. Maybe this was a good thing for her, getting out of the temple and having more of a normal Earth life. After all, she had fought long and hard to save this planet.

"Hey Pearl," a voice startled her a little bit as she noticed a pink-haired woman approaching her.

"Oh! Hi, um, umm…?" How did Pearl seriously not know this girl's name?

"You can call me Sheena. Or S. Or 'hey you with the pink hair.' Whatever works for you," the girl smiled. Pearl always wished she could be this cool and collected. After a long, awkward pause, Sheena continued, "So, um, you wanna walk along the beach or something? Maybe check out Funland?"

"Yeah, um, sure," Pearl said, still quite flustered. She didn't even realize that she'd been staring at the girl so intensely, but Sheena definitely noticed, making Pearl even more self-conscious. But she got up and followed the pink-haired girl towards the beach, remembering what Steven had said about asking the girl questions and allowing her to talk about herself. "So, um, what do you do for fun?"

"Oh, me?" Sheena chuckled. "Not a whole lot, play some music occasionally, work on cars and bikes, go to shows, meet cool girls." _Oh my stars, she thinks I'm cool! Pearl, don't mess this up._ "So, what about you?"  
Somehow, Pearl was not ready for this question. What _did_ she like to do? It had to be something _cool._ "Oh, well, I've been known to build and fix up human devices as well, and if I do say so myself, I'm quite good at it. Currently, I'm also teaching Steven and his little friend to sword fight."

The pink-haired girl let out a chuckle. "Sword fighting, huh? You should show me a few moves sometime. Who's Steven?" She asked, seeming genuinely interested in what the gem had to say. But Pearl was flustered all over again. How did she even begin to describe who Steven was to her?

"Well, um, he's a friend, um, roommate? A family member? It's very complicated."

"I know how that is," the girl responded with a reassuring smile. "So, Pearl, what do you do for a living?"

Another difficult question. As much as she'd prepared for going out with a human, somehow she found herself not at all ready. "Well, I'm a guardian of this planet and all life on it," Pearl hoped the girl wouldn't press any further.

"So you're like, a police officer? Or a security guard?"

"I guess—in a sense, I'm kind of like a security guard. My job is to protect humans and other beings. So, um, what do you do?"

"Well, mostly I'm a mechanic, fixing up bikes, making them awesome. You should come by the shop sometime! Though I do also work part time at a coffee shop," Sheena added, unenthusiastically. The conversation flowed pretty well from that point forward, discussing the different vehicles they'd worked on and what kinds of music they liked. Pearl didn't know much Earth music outside of classical, but luckily, Sheena didn't seem to judge her for it, and was happy to talk at length about all of her favorite bands, promising to take Pearl to their concerts someday. The pair stopped walking outside Fish Stew Pizza. "Hey, you wanna grab something to eat?" Sheena asked, "I'm like, starving."

 _Oh crap oh crap oh crap._ How had Pearl forgotten that humans need to eat? What was she going to tell this girl? "I um, I'm not really hungry, but if you are, we should definitely get you something. Maybe I'll try some tea." This whole interacting-with-humans thing was going to be harder than she thought; she'd have to ask Amethyst for some eating tips.

"Oh, um, okay, you sure? The girl asked, feeling a little weird about it.

"Yes, of course," Pearl started walking towards the pizza restaurant. As they entered the restaurant, Pearl pretended not to notice Kiki and Jenny's curious looks. After Sheena had ordered and excused herself to the restroom, however, the gem was forced to acknowledge the twins.

"So, Pearl, who's the mysterious pink lady?" Kiki asked, fully aware of just how much the gem was blushing and laughing a little at the sight of it.

"Well, um, we met at a rock show last night and she gave me her phone number and…"

" _Oh my God, Pearl, are you on a date?!"_ Jenny interrupted, unable to contain herself.

"Oh, um, well, I don't know, maybe? I think so?" Pearl's lack of human knowledge was showing, and about a million more questions ran through her head to ask the other gems when she returned home.

Seeing the look on the gem's face caused Jenny screamed with excitement, "You are totally into her, aren't you?!"  
"Yes, yes, I think I am," Pearl muttered, unable to deny it. She felt so strange admitting it, even to herself. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this way about someone. Well, actually she could. But she wasn't going to think about Rose, not tonight. She was a new gem and she had moved on.

"Hey, good luck," Kiki whispered as she handed Pearl the pizza, signaling that the human girl had returned.

"Get it, girl!" Nanefua Pizza yelled from somewhere in the back; no one had even realized she was there.

"You know them?" Sheena asked as she and Pearl sat down.

"Oh um, friends of the family," the tall gem responded.

"That's nice," the human responded, "I just moved here, don't really know anybody yet. In fact, you're the first person I've really hung out with here in town, outside of coworkers and stuff. It's nice."

Pearl couldn't think of any response except to smile and mutter, "What an honor," hoping she didn't sound too completely crazy. Well, more crazy than she usually must when talking to humans who were unfamiliar with her kind which she imagined was a pretty high level of crazy. Pearl actually enjoyed watching Sheena hungrily devour the pizza; she wondered what it tasted like, what it felt like in her mouth, what it'd be like to share a pizza with her, actually curious about the food instead of the feelings of discomfort that she normally experienced. For the first time all evening, the nerves dissipated a bit and she felt at ease, comfortable with her new friend. Or "more than friend." Or whatever this girl was.

The pink-haired girl noticed the way her date was staring at her and was suddenly a little self-conscious. "You sure you don't want any?" She asked, waving a slice of pizza playfully in front of Pearl's face.

"Oh, no, I am perfectly fine," the gem responded, turning away.

"Wait, you're not one of those health nut hippie vegan types, are you?" Sheena asked jokingly.

"No, not at all," Pearl answered. She had no idea what any of those words meant, but by the way that her date had said them, she assumed it wasn't exactly a good thing. She wished that she could just tell Sheena that she was a gem who didn't need to eat, and about Steven and everyone else, but the others had been very clear, and Pearl didn't want to overwhelm her. She was suddenly and terribly afraid that she'd say or do something that was "too weird" or that would scare Sheena away. They walked out of Fish Stew Pizza and Pearl grabbed Sheena's hand as they made their way along the starlit boardwalk. She didn't know what had gotten into her or why, but the human girl didn't pull away, and Pearl may have even seen a little smile run across her face. Pearl felt more and more like a rebel with every passing moment, and though she'd never admit it, she _loved_ the feeling. In fact, it had been years, maybe decades or even centuries, since she'd felt this free. Pearl managed to get rather zoned out and lost in thought while walking with this girl, and before she knew it, they were on the beach again, heading towards a small crowd of humans in front of a stage.

"Wanna check out this band?" Sheena said, motioning toward the human show that was starting just a few hundred yards away from them. All the pale gem could do was nod and keep walking, still refusing to let go of the human girl's hand. "I've never heard of these guys, I bet they're decent though," The still-very-mysterious woman said with a smile. As they sat down in the sand, waves barely brushing their toes, Pearl realized that she literally could not care less how the band sounded. There was something—well, some _one_ —that was taking up all her attention. Not long after, the band started to play, and luckily, Sheena seemed to like what she was hearing. The indie rock sound filled Pearl's ears, but all she could think about was how to get closer to the girl by her side. Was this what it had felt like when Ruby and Sapphire first met, or Rose and Greg. But she was getting ahead of herself. She still knew so little about this girl; and, maybe more importantly, this girl knew almost nothing about who she really was. The band finished their song to the sound of some applause and cheering, but quickly started back up again, this time with a much slower rhythm. Sheena stood up and offered her hand to Pearl, "May I have this dance?"

"O-of course," Pearl stammered as she stood up rather shakily. The pink haired girl led them both in a gentle, swaying movement. However, soon Pearl took control and their moves got gradually more elaborate and graceful, getting used to each other's' bodies and motions. The gem bent the human into a deep dip, watching her get starry eyed, in awe at Pearl's strength and elegance. Soon, all eyes were on the pair, not that they really noticed or cared. Pearl was so very impressed with Sheena's ability to keep up with her dancing, adding so much more to the experience. They danced the night away until long after the band stopped playing and all the other humans had left. It must have been at least midnight when Sheena finally stopped and muttered, "I guess I should probably get you home pretty soon, I have work in the morning and I better not keep you from your sleep either. C'mon, I'll give you a ride."

Pearl recognized the human girl's bike, and thought about how she'd _love_ to get a closer look at it. She held tight (maybe even a little tighter than necessary) onto Sheena as they pulled up to a familiar statue on the side of a cliff, leaving the human girl completely in awe. "You live here?!"

"Oh, um, yeah, my, um, family's been here for a while."

"I'll have to come see it some time when it's light out."

"Oh, yes, I'd love to see you again!" This was how humans interacted with one another, right?

"Me too, I'll give you a call?" _I must get a phone for myself,_ Pearl thought. As much as she adored Steven, she didn't really want him knowing _all_ her business. Another wave of naughtiness came over Pearl; she got up on her tiptoes, and planted a gentle kiss on the human's cheek. Even in the darkness, she could swear she saw Sheena blush. "Well, goodnight, Pearl, I really had fun with you." These were the last words that Pearl heard before the bicycle pulled away, leaving the petite gem still unable to believe that this night had really happened.


	3. Chapter 3

Pearl walked into the house section of the Temple to find it completely dark and empty. Odd, she thought, given that it was much past Steven's bedtime, but her brain was still aflutter from her date and she didn't question it too much. She sunk down on the couch, remembering that she was the only one who actually made an effort to try and get the boy to follow a bedtime anyway. Pearl laid back in the dark and tried to catch her breath, not that she needed to do so, but she was hoping it would help her relax. At that moment, however, the door flew open, allowing a young boy and small, purple gem to rush inside. "I think we beat her back," Amethyst whispered loudly, "she'll never know we were spying on her."

Pearl had planned to listen in on them a little longer before making her presence known, but at this revelation, she let out a squawking, "You were what?!" At that moment, Steven flipped the light switch, and walked into the house, bringing the pale gem into view. They stared at each other for what felt like the longest time, as Steven blushed red and Pearl blue.

"I'm sorry, Pearl, we… I shouldn't have…" The boy hesitated guiltily, knowing they really didn't have an excuse outside of overwhelming curiosity.

"So, um, how did I do?"

Immediately stars formed in Steven's eyes as he rambled, "You did great! Well, I think you did! Do you think she likes you? Do you like her?!"

Amethyst joined in, "Wow, P, I knew you had moves, but I'm pretty sure you blew her away! Chicks dig a girl that can dance, did you see the way she was looking at you?! When are you gonna see her again? And when do we get to meet her, for Christ's sakes?"

Pearl didn't think her cheeks could get bluer, but surely they accomplished just that as she turned her head away from the other two and tried to formulate a semi-coherent response. "Wow, um, you really think I did well? Well, that's good, I, um, hope to see her again soon, I just…" in all the excitement, none of them had even noticed the fusion walking in the door until she had grabbed Steven and Amethyst by the shoulders and said shortly, "Hey. Don't mess with her funky flow." Both shorty squad members moaned a little bit in complaint, but listened to Garnet and walked away, Steven to the bathroom, and Amethyst to the kitchen. Once she had determined it was sufficiently quiet, the fusion whispered, "So, really, how was it?"

"Oh, Garnet, it was incredible! And terrifying! She was so…cool! And she likes me, um, I think, can you believe it?! I think she's really interested in me!"

"Of course she is, Pearl," Garnet smiled, resting a hand on the thin gem's, "I'm glad it went well. I think this is going to be good for you." Pearl returned the fusion's smile as she felt the warmth of Ruby's gem on her hand.

"Thank you," the ivory-skinned gem stuttered, before she remembered something scary. "Hold on, I need to talk to—Amethyst!" She yelled just in time, as the purple gem opened the temple door to her room, some sort of burrito/cereal/mustard monstrosity in her hands, looking a bit surprised as Pearl rushed after her.

"This is going to be interesting," Garnet whispered to herself as the other two gems disappeared into Amethyst's room.

"Sup, Pierogi? You okay?" The little quartz asked, concerned by the frantic look on Pearl's face.

"Sheena, she's a human, she needs to eat!"

"She—oh. OH!" Things suddenly clicked in Amethyst's head.

"And she kept asking me why I wasn't, if I wanted to, and I—didn't know what to say. Can you teach me?"

"P, I'm not sure I'm the best to ask about this, you know I never pass up a meal. Or a snack. Or a dessert. Unless _oh my God._ Are you serious?!"

"I think so. At least, I want to try." She sounded more and more uncertain with every word, hating how something as simple and unassuming as human food could give her this much anxiety. Maybe she could jump right in the way she had last night when she got Sheena's phone number. "Maybe I'll just try…" Pearl reached out her hand slowly towards Amethyst's latest culinary creation, hesitantly grabbing a mustard-covered potato chip at the top of the pile and brought it towards her.

"Pearl, you don't have to, maybe take it slower…" Amethyst managed before she was rendered speechless by something she never thought she'd be seeing. The taller gem summoned her last bit of courage as she covered her eyes with one hand and shoved the entire chip into her mouth with the other. Her eyes grew huge as she immediately realized the mistake she'd made.

"Augh, eugh, ahhh ack ack hnnnnggggg," Pearl sputtered as she curled up on the floor, disgusted by the way the chip was turning soggy from her saliva.

Amethyst patted the pale gem's back gently, and tried to comfort her, "it's okay, P, you don't have to swallow it, just spit it out, you'll be fine, it's not so bad." Pearl slowly let the mush fall out of her mouth, staring at Amethyst in horror. "You may want to see if Steven has an extra toothbrush," the shorter gem chuckled.

"H-how do you do that? And WHY?!" Pearl finished, much louder than intended.

"I like it," the purple gem shrugged. "It's fun, it tastes good. But let's start with something smaller. Juice, tea, water. We'll work up to masterpieces like these."

"Is that what you want to call that?" Pearl muttered.

"Yeah, dude!" Amethyst said. "This, here, it's like, expert level food. Only for the most advanced palates." Pearl scoffed at that; she'd seen the kinds of things that went into the quartz's mouth.

"Thank you, though, Amethyst, I guess the time to try new things is now."

"You bet it is!" The quartz said with a smile. "But you know what this means!" She tackled Pearl playfully. "You owe me! I want _all_ the hairy details of your hot date."


	4. Chapter 4

"Pearl! Sheena's calling again!" Steven yelled at the gem in the kitchen as she walked upstairs to grab the phone from the boy. Amethyst had insisted that Pearl wait a few days before calling the mysterious girl, but after that, they talked on the phone nearly every day. Pearl enjoyed talking to Sheena, telling her about her days, about sword training with Steven and Connie, silly things that Amethyst did, she even talked about certain things from the past, though she still tried to be careful. Pearl was still so afraid she'd say that _one_ thing, whatever it was, that was just too strange for this human, not to mention the huge elephant in the room. She had never been interested in getting a human's approval before; to say it was nerve-wracking would be an understatement.

Pearl stared at the phone for a second. Sheena's number had been added to the phone's contacts as "Pearl's Hot Ladyfriend" by a certain purple gem, causing her to roll her eyes. "Yes, yes, hello?"

"Hey, cutie, what are you up to?" It was a little embarrassing, the way that just the sound of Sheena's voice could make her blush this much.

"I'm doing well, thanks, I guess you could say I'm just 'hanging out,' at home, what about yourself?"

"I guess you could say I'm just 'hanging out' too," Sheena responded, mimicking the gem's tone. Gotta put a few finishing touches on my bike, then she'll be perfect. For real this time," the human girl chuckled. "The fix you suggested worked though, thanks." Pearl smiled at this, remembering how much fun she'd had yesterday talking to the girl about vehicles and all their different parts and functions, comparing stories and tips; they must've chatted for hours, much to Steven's annoyance. With that said though, Pearl's favorite conversations were the ones where she got to learn more about Sheena and her life. She felt like she could listen for hours to the girl's stories about her coworkers, growing up in Empire City, different (wildly irresponsible, in Pearl's opinion) things she'd done with her friends. It just felt so amazing to have someone new to talk to, even someone so different.

"So, Pearl, I was thinking, since my bike is almost done, I think I'm about ready to see your pretty face again. If you'd like, of course." The tall gem chuckled a little; was it just her or did the human girl sound a little flustered?

"Yes, of course," Pearl replied without hesitation, "What would you like to do?"

"Well, I was thinking, with Halloween coming up and all, maybe we should see a scary movie? If you're not too afraid."

"Oh, I think I'll be okay," the gem scoffed; she had watched many a film with Steven, but would hardly describe any of them as "scary."

"Okay, then, tough girl. You free tomorrow night?" Sheena couldn't help but laugh a little at Pearl's words; the more time she spent with the thin woman, the more she felt that the girl was a force to be reckoned with.

"You know I am," The gem replied smoothly. She was still trying to wrap her head around this whole "flirting" thing, as Amethyst had called it, but she thought she was doing alright.

"Okay, then, I'll pick you up around 5? Maybe we can grab some dinner on the way?"

"Um, how about later? Like after dinner?"

"Ohhh okay, not ready for a romantic dinner date? I'll pick you up at 8:30, looks like the movie starts at 9. I'll try to tone down my charm. Tell Steven not to wait up for you," the girl joked.

"Okay, I shall do just that!" Steven had answered the phone a few times when the girl called, but luckily hadn't said anything Pearl would deem "embarrassing". Sheena seemed to understand that the boy was important to her, and luckily didn't press too much, even if Pearl had no idea how to respond to the girl's "tone down the charm" comment.

"Kay, I gotta go, Pearl, see you tomorrow, behave yourself."

"Yes, okay! Can't wait!" The gem turned toward Steven as she handed him the phone back. "Oh, and don't wait up." The boy, while a bit confused, couldn't help being excited for the gem.

"Alright, you have fun," he giggled. "Oh, and Pearl? I think you need your own phone. I bet my dad would buy you one! He's rich now, remember?"

"Really? If you think so, that would be nice. For… safety!"

Steven laughed, "Yeah, sure."

"Oh, and Steven? Which movie would you consider 'scary'?"

* * *

Later that afternoon found Greg and Pearl entering the boardwalk's only cell phone store as Steven and Connie made sandcastles nearby. He had agreed that with Steven living with them and going on missions and such, it would be safer if the gems had a way to communicate with him directly, and Pearl appreciated that he didn't ask too many questions. The 20-something guy working at the store quickly set Pearl up with a new smartphone and added her to Greg and Steven's family plan, even though she was a bit baffled as to how the little device worked. The gem thanked the man, turned around—and almost ran into a familiar, pink silhouette.

"Pearl! Fancy seeing you here!" Sheena said with genuine excitement.

"Sheena! Yes! I have just purchased my very own cellular phone!" Pearl showed the girl the device in her hand.

"Very nice, very nice. So now I don't have to call Steven's phone in order to reach you? I mean, he seems like a good kid and all, but it was getting a little awkward." The human girl smiled.

"Ah, yes, this one is all mine!" At this point, Greg had noticed the rather unexpected occurrence—first, he didn't often run into strangers in Beach City; he'd been around long enough that he pretty much knew everyone. Second, he'd never seen Pearl really take interest in talking to humans, especially ones she didn't know that well. Third, this stranger had talked to his son—though that boy had always been a little too friendly for his own good.

"Pearl?" He tapped the gem's shoulder lightly, "Sorry to interrupt, but who is this?"

"Oh, yes," as Pearl turned to face him, he noticed the blue rising to the gem's cheeks. "Greg, this is my new, um, friend, Sheena. We met at the Mike Kroll show about a week ago. And Sheena, this is Mr. Greg Universe, he's, um, Steven's father." Pearl had not anticipated this much awkwardness in her day, but she did always manage to surprise herself.

"Mr. Universe…" Sheena trailed off, staring at Greg somewhat distantly, as if she knew him but couldn't remember where from.

"Yes, it's very nice to meet you, Sheena," the man replied, extending a hand to the pink-haired girl. Sheena quickly shook it and walked away with a muttered excuse. As soon as she was out of earshot, Greg saw the gem, blushing bright and frozen in place, and couldn't help but ask, "So that's why you wanted a phone, isn't it, Pearl?

* * *

The next evening at promptly 8:30 pm, Pearl was waiting anxiously on the temple's porch, fully decked out in her "bad Pearl outfit," as Amethyst called it. The others were chattering and giving the ivory-skinned gem last minute date advice, even though Pearl had made them promise not to watch this time. She waited, and _waited,_ for what seemed like hours. "She's not coming. I've been waiting all night, and she didn't even show up. I guess I'm not as cool as I thought…" Pearl sighed hopelessly, talking to nobody in particular.

"Chill out, P, you've literally been waiting for like, 5 minutes," Amethyst replied from inside. "She'll be here, those cool girls are always a few minutes late."

"Promise?"  
"Promise." The purple gem scooped Pearl into a quick hug. "And if she breaks your heart, I am going full Purple Puma on her ass." The pale gem chuckled weakly at the thought.

"She's here! She's here!" Pearl shouted as she rushed down the steps at the sight of a motorcycle coming up the hill.

"Sheena! You made it!" The tall gem almost yelled, "Oh, I'm so happy to see you! I hope yesterday at the store wasn't too awkward, I—" Pearl's words were interrupted when the human girl planted a soft kiss right on her gem, sending a shiver up and down her form.

"Don't worry about it, silly, now get on," the human shoved a helmet onto the gem's head. The Pearl did as she was told, and it was a quick ride to the movie theatre. Sheena bought a big bucket of popcorn and commented, "I expect you to share this with me," but Pearl tried not to think about that and hoped she could avoid it. Both sunk down into their seats with time to spare, but Sheena couldn't take wondering any longer.

"So, um, that man you were with yesterday, Mr. Universe, is he, um…" Pearl waited patiently for her date to finish, "Is he a musician?"

That was not what Pearl expected the girl to ask, so she hesitated for a moment. "Yes, actually, or well, he used to be, but now he owns a carwash here in town. I think he still plays music sometimes though." The pale gem was more than ready to change the subject.

"Oh, I was just wondering, I think I've heard some of his stuff. 'Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart'? 'I'm Just a Comet'?" The girl was clearly trying to look cool and indifferent, but her excitement was obvious.

"Yes, I think so," _Come on, let's talk about something else, please._

"Wow! He's really good! I can't believe you know him!" Sheena continued rambling. _If this turns into Rose all over again, I swear to God or stars or the Diamonds or WHATEVER…_

"Wait, so how do you know him again?" The attention suddenly snapped back to Pearl.

"Oh, well, I had this, um, friend, Rose. I'd known her for many, many years, and she fell in love with Greg and they had Steven. But Rose is…no longer with us, so the others and I stepped in to help raise Steven along with Greg." Pearl tried to disguise the hurt of that statement, of that story, but she knew she was doing a poor job.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the pink-haired girl muttered shyly.

"It's okay," Pearl replied, trying desperately to think of something else to talk about. "So, um, what's this movie we're seeing?

"Well, we're seeing _A Nightmare on Elm Street._ They're showing the original one from the 80's, tonight only, how cool is that?! And these kids, they keep seeing a scary guy in their dreams, and then they get murdered! And they're trying to figure out why this is happening and how to stop it but they don't have much time and… Well, you'll have to watch it."

"Oh. Sounds…exciting." And Pearl suddenly realized, she'd never seen a film like this before, and silently vowed to never let Steven anywhere near it. As the room went dark and the screen lit up, Pearl grew steadily more apprehensive. With every scream and scare, the thin gem would jump and gasp as Sheena tried to hide her amusement. The pink haired girl grabbed the gem's hand and stroked it with her thumb.

"You okay?" She whispered.

"Yes, yes, so he just gets into their minds while they're sleeping?" Pearl muttered, terrified.

"Exactly, isn't that wild? Good thing people can't actually do that," Sheena responded. She had seen enough horror movies to be relatively unfazed, but clearly Pearl wasn't like her in that regard. She watched the gem's huge blue eyes, a mix of confusion and terror and maybe even a little bit of excitement, though that could have been wishful thinking.

Pearl closed her eyes hard as she felt her date squeeze her hand. It was nice. She felt herself calming down a little, even though she could still hear the teenage human being violently murdered onscreen. She snuck a look at her date when she was sure Sheena wasn't looking; the girl seemed intrigued, every scare bringing a fresh wave of adrenaline coursing through her. Maybe that's why she wanted Pearl to be there, to share in the excitement. The gem didn't even know it was possible to feel excited and terrified at the same time, not from something like human entertainment. Of course, she'd felt this way when she was rebelling against Homeworld, but that was a far different time and a far different situation. But Pearl liked how this girl and this movie made her feel. Her metaphorical heart pounding and hands shaking, horrified of what was coming next but also filled with anticipation, unable to tear her eyes off the screen, while squeezing Sheena's hand until it turned white (more than once, Pearl had to remind herself to loosen her grip so as to not actually hurt the girl).

At long last, the movie finished and the house lights turned back on. Sheena grabbed her hand away from the gem's death grip, muttering, "Yeesh, you are a lot stronger than you look," as she tried to get the blood circulating normally again.

"Steven is never allowed to see that film, ever!" Pearl hissed.

Sheena just chuckled, "Well you won't always be able to control what he watches, he won't be little forever!" She'd never admit it, but the human girl actually kind of enjoyed her date's passion about this.

"You don't know that, maybe he will be! Even if he lives to be 10,000 years old, he will always be my baby boy, and as such he must listen to me!"

Sheena did her best to contain her laughter, but could only choke out a weak, "Whatever you say, Pearl." After she composed herself slightly more, the pink haired girl continued, "So I take it you're not a horror fan?"

Pearl was slightly taken aback by this question. "No? Maybe? I don't know, it was…exhilarating. It really drew me in."

"Yeah, that's the best part! You can' look away!"

"But there was still a tad too much blood and gore for my liking." Seriously. What the hell was up with that? When she literally _sliced a gem in half_ , they would just vanish into a puff of smoke and leave their stone behind. It wasn't all messy and gooey the way humans are. Gross. So distasteful.

"You got me there," Sheena responded, flashing Pearl another smile that froze her momentarily. "You ready to go home, cutie?" The mysterious girl asked, "Unless you'd rather… continue the excitement at my place," she finished with a devious look.

"Um, no thank you, just take me home, please, I wouldn't want the others to worry," Pearl replied, the subtle suggestion going completely over her head.

The ride back to the temple wasn't long, but the gem's death grip on Sheena's waist made it slightly slower and more difficult. _Maybe she's still in adrenaline mode,_ the human girl thought to herself. As Pearl dismounted the bike in front of the stairs, Sheena noticed something fall out of her date's jacket pocket, some sort of paper. She picked it up, "Hey, Pearl, you dropped something," she said before looking at it. The paper contained what appeared to be stickers, made with a cartoon likeness of none other than Pearl herself. "Hey," the girl snickered, "what on Earth are these?"

Pearl blushed a bit. "They're, um, Pearl points! I use them for the kids' sword training. To reward them for punctuality, perseverance, and positivity!"

Sheena let out a very uncharacteristic giggle, "That's cute." The girl quickly regained her smoothness, however, as she asked playfully, "So how does a girl like me get one?" Pearl's cheeks turned completely blue as she was speechless for a moment.

"Well, you can have one for…showing me something new! And being patient with me. Thank you." She pulled a sticker off the sheet and handed it to her date.  
"Oh, and thank you!" Sheena said with excitement that Pearl chose to believe was genuine. The Pearl Point was promptly stuck onto the human girl's helmet, joining her worn, old lightning bolt sticker. "Now I have something to remember you by. I mean, as more than the girl who saved my planet."

"Why, yes, I guess you do!" Pearl responded, unsure of what to say to that joke.

"Now I need to give you something to remember me…"

"Oh, Sheena, how could I ever forget you and—" Pearl was promptly cut off by lips on hers. She wrapped her arms around the human girl's neck as she melted into the kiss. Sheena's tongue teased the gem's mouth open slightly, causing Pearl to gasp a little in surprise and also pleasure. The human girl pulled the gem's thin waist towards her own, deepening the kiss and the tongue action. Pearl tried to reciprocate the deft, confident movements of the girl's lips and tongue, hoping that she was a good kisser, however, in that moment, there wasn't much room to be anxious. After what felt like a very long time, Sheena pulled away, leaving stars in her partner's eyes.

"Goodnight, Pearl," were the last words that were uttered as the pink haired girl drove away, and Pearl watched Sheena disappear into the moonlight.

* * *

A/N: OMG thanks so much for reading and reviewing. I hope you like this chapter, I'm trying to update more often! Also, full disclosure, I have never seen a horror movie in my life.


	5. Chapter 5

Pearl stood outside the Temple, frozen in place, for an embarrassing amount of time, long after Sheena drove away. She slowly scaled the steps to the house, trying to be as quiet as possible in hopes that Steven was already asleep. Steven! All of her worries came rushing back, as she couldn't stop thinking about the movie. _Of course_ she knew it wasn't real, Steven had explained how television worked on more than one occasion. But she couldn't get the thoughts out of her head as she rushed through the front doors. Pearl breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed the young boy sound asleep in his bed, but she couldn't resist the urge to take a closer look. She perched on the side of Steven's bed, watching his chest move up and down under the blankets, one foot sticking out over the edge. For some unexplainable reason, she had the urge to tuck it back under the blanket. That's where it belonged, so it would be safe. _What? Pearl, that's so silly._ She had watched the boy sleep hundreds of times, and not once had anything bad even come close to happening. No scary man ever had tried to attack him. But… Steven could see into peoples' dreams, does that mean someone could… No, of course not. Pearl tried to take deep breaths, despite not needing oxygen, knowing that this often calmed humans down. _He's fine,_ she told herself sternly, _he's safe._ Pearl closed her eyes for a moment, trying to focus on these thoughts, when she suddenly heard a voice.

"Peeeaaarllll, I thought we talked about this," the boy said, "no more watching me sleep!" His voice got less groggy and more annoyed with every word.

"Oh, um, sorry, Steven, just had to check on you," she muttered, embarrassed and a little bit startled.

"Well, I'm okay, so stop. Please."

"Right, right, of course," Pearl responded, guiltily turning away from the boy. "Hey, um, Steven?"

"Yeah?"

"You said that dreams, they're like mixed up movies, right?"

"Mm-Hm."

"So could they be like, _scary_ movies? Could a dream hurt you?"

"Sometimes they're scary, like when I dream about the Cluster or Jasper getting corrupted or somebody hurting one of you guys or Dad. But I don't think they could hurt someone in real life, they're just inside your brain. They're not real." Steven was slowly starting to realize just how scared and concerned Pearl looked, but he couldn't figure out what happened or why she was asking these things so suddenly.

"And when you've connected to others through your dreams, you don't, you've never…"

"Never what, Pearl?"

"Um, never mind. That was a silly question, I should know better," Pearl backtracked, too afraid of what the answer might be.

"Even when I've found myself connecting with other people in my dreams, like Lapis or Kiki, I'd never want to…hurt anyone. I've been trying so hard not to hurt anyone," he finished sadly.

"I know you have, sweet one," Pearl whispered as she wrapped the boy in a tight hug. "And I'd never want anyone to hurt you."

"I'll be okay, Pearl. You've been training me; I'm a strong, tough, gem warrior now!" The boy finished with a smile.

The ivory-skinned gem laughed quietly and rustled Steven's hair. "I know you are. But I'll never stop worrying, it's what I do best."

"I love you, Pearl."

"I love you too, Steven."

"Now go away so I can sleep."

* * *

The next morning found Pearl in the kitchen, making breakfast for Steven, hoping to avoid talking/thinking about the night before, preferably forever. She liked cooking, even if she didn't really enjoy food (which she really must continue to work on). "Wow, thanks, Pearl!" The boy said with his mouth full of pancakes. He swallowed loudly. "But you know I can cook for myself now, right?

The thin gem chuckled a little. "Of course I do, but I thought it'd be nice to wake up to. Now hurry up and eat it before Amethyst does!" Steven nodded, fully aware of how real that threat was.

At that moment, the door to the house swung open. "Morning, y'all," a breathless Greg Universe panted.

"Oh, good morning, Greg! How are you?" Pearl responded cheerfully as she grabbed a second plate and started scooping eggs, pancakes, and fruit onto it.

"Wow, what's the occasion?" The man asked as he excitedly took the food.

"Pearl feels guilty because she woke me up in the middle of the night after her date and things got weird!" Steven rambled excitedly through his full mouth. Pearl turned completely blue and gave Greg a sheepish smile. What was she going to do with that boy?

"Sounds like fun! Wait, you didn't…?"

"What, no, of course not!" Despite the certainty in her voice, she had no idea what the man was talking about. "Wait, I didn't…what?"

"Um, Steven, go take a shower and get dressed, I promised Mayor Dewey we'd be on time for his thing!" Greg interrupted loudly, shooing his son away.

"Of course, we simply cannot be late!" Steven replied jokingly as he hurried off, leaving Greg and Pearl alone in the kitchen.

"So, um, Pearl, what's this about a date? Might that be with the girl from the phone store the other day?" Greg couldn't believe he was actually asking the ivory-skinned gem about this kind of thing, though he felt semi-obligated. The awkwardness was palpable, but he simply had to know, for safety, right?

"Actually, yes, Sheena. We went to the movies, it was…nice," Pearl looked away, a little afraid of what the human's reaction might be.

"Is it going well? Are you interested in getting more serious with her?" Greg's voice was caring and free from judgement; Pearl truly did love how their friendship had grown since their trip to Empire City.

Pearl thought about the question for a moment. "Yes, I think so? I mean, I think it's going well. How would I know?" As those big, blue eyes stared at him, Greg was struck with a realization, and he suddenly remembered how little Rose knew about human relationships when they had first started dating so many years ago. _Oh, God, this is going to be interesting._

"If you think it's going fine, it probably is. Try not to overthink it too much," The human had to smile a bit at the sudden panic in Pearl's eyes, looking desperate for any advice Greg could give her. It was kind of fun, getting to be more knowledgeable, more put together than the gems for once. "Are you having fun with her? Do you look forward to seeing her?"

"Yes, absolutely, everything's better with Sheena around." The gem answered without hesitation. "Like last night, we went to this very strange film, where the scary man entered peoples' dreams and violently murdered them, and I thought of Steven and his abilities, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it at all, but she was there. I got to squeeze her hand and be close to her. It was…"

"The best?" Greg finished for her, smiling.

"Yes." Pearl blushed deeper.

"But Pearl, humans are different than gems. They love differently. And it's okay if you don't get it right away, but you need to be open with her, be honest, accept what you're feeling. All of it.

"Is that what you and…"

"That's exactly what Rose and I did. And it took a while, there was a lot of confusion, a lot of misunderstanding, but I can't think of anything more important than love."

"That sounds like something Garnet would say," Pearl giggled, getting a little uncomfortable with the depth of this conversation.

"She actually did say something like that to me once. Mysterious as she can be, she really helped." Greg smiled, thinking back on the night long ago when he had tried to fuse with Rose.

"It's funny," Pearl let out a small smile as she thought deeply. "For the longest time, I wanted nothing more than to have what you and Rose did. And now it's happening, and I don't know what to do, I can't even believe it!"

"Neither can I, honestly," the human smirked a little. "You were always so…"  
"Cold? Bitchy?" Pearl finished jokingly.

"Your words, not mine. But yes." They both laughed a little.

"It's just, a human, I don't even know how that's possible…" Pearl muttered distantly.

"You don't think it's because…" Greg hesitated for a moment. "You must have noticed, she kinda looks like…" he made a small gesture to the framed painting on the wall.

"Yes, yes, Steven pointed that out too. Amethyst says I have a 'type,' whatever that means." Pearl tried to dismiss this. She was doing her best not to think about that similarity. _I am 100% over Rose. I have to be. Get your life together, Pearl._

"I'd say you do. But this girl, she's not Rose, and whatever you have with her, it's going to be different. And that's good."

Pearl wanted nothing more to roll her eyes and disregard what Greg had just said. _Of course Sheena isn't Rose, how dumb does he think I am? Nobody could ever replace her._ But at the same time, she knew where the human was coming from. It had been so difficult for her to move on after Rose, and now she finally had, or rather, she hoped she had. She truly wanted this to work out well, she wanted to be happy. She deserved that, right?

"Um, Greg? She asked about you. She likes your music."

Greg blushed at this statement and turned away sheepishly. "Oh, she does? I didn't think anyone…Well, tell her thank you." But he knew that was not why Pearl had mentioned this.

"I promise you don't have to worry about me," he looked at the gem reassuringly, "ladies don't flock to me like the used to, you know, when I had more hair. I'm way too old for her anyway."

"I'm thousands of years older than you though!" Pearl almost shouted, eyes wide. His efforts to make her feel better had, quite clearly, failed.

"You know what I meant!" Greg scoffed, "you don't age. I do. I have." Pearl's eyes focused on the shiny part of his head that used to be covered in hair. "But bring her by sometime, we've gotta make sure she can truly handle us and all our crazy." Greg eyed the huge kitchen mess that Amethyst had made the night before, watching Lion sniff it curiously.

"I'm getting there, still have a few more things to discuss with her first. My age being one of those things."

"You mean she doesn't know who you are? Where you came from? What you do?" Greg asked surprised.

"No, none of it. The others said it was a good idea to wait. You know, until she can't back out, or whatever it is humans do when confronted with alien life."

Greg thought about that for a moment. "That's fair, wouldn't want to scare her off. But Pearl? She has a right to know what she's getting into."

"…Right. Of course."

At that moment, a freshly dressed Steven came down the stairs, announcing, "I'm ready to go!"

"Alright, buddy, just a sec," Greg responded. "And Pearl," he whispered, "If you ever need to talk to anyone about this whole gems-dating-humans thing, you have my number."

"You are the expert on that topic," Pearl smiled. She hesitated for a moment before she flung her arms dramatically around Greg's neck. "Thank you." Greg returned the hug for a short time before he left with the very confused looking Steven. Maybe Pearl would explain to him when he was older.


	6. Chapter 6

It was after midnight by the time Sheena arrived at her little house just outside of the city. As she pulled the door open, the lights immediately flipped on and a thin figure spun around dramatically in his chair to face her. "Now where have you been, young lady?" Her roommate asked suspiciously.

"Jamie, seriously?" Sheena giggled.

"I brought my swivel chair into the living room solely for dramatic effect. You better believe I am serious," Jamie peeked over his "Movie Star" sunglasses.

"And you've been sitting here in the dark for how long?" Sheena asked, taking a seat on the couch.

"Quite some time…" the actor admitted sheepishly.

"Well, I'm terribly sorry, but I had to drop my date off at her house on the beach."

"Oh of course, could not possibly make them walk, how incredibly unchivalrous!"

"Now you've got it," the girl smiled. She hadn't been living with Jamie for very long, but considered him to be a good friend despite all the drama.

"So who is this 'date' anyway? Whoever it is must be incredibly wealthy to live right on the beach!"  
"It _is_ Beach City, dude, everybody kinda lives on the beach. Well, except us. But yeah, you know that house that looks like it's being held up by the giant lady statue that's carved into the side of the cliff? She lives there."

Jamie nearly fell out of his chair. "Did you manage to get a date with THE GARNET?!" He pressed his face up against the girl's. For effect, of course.

Sheena couldn't help but laugh. "What? Who's the Garnet? My date was with a girl named Pearl."

"THE GARNET is only the most beautiful woman in Beach City, possibly the world! We were in love."

"Were you really?" The girl scoffed. "And seriously, what is up with all the gem names in this town?"

"Didn't she tell you? Steven's, um, family, calls themselves the Crystal Gems. They've been around Beach City for a super long time. They like, protect humanity or something."

"She did say something about that…Protect it from what?" Sheena asked, growing increasingly suspicious. She knew Pearl had kind of a weird, quirky, nerd thing going on, it was super cute, but could there be something else?

"Hell if I know," the mailman answered, "but it's no secret that this town is weird. Remind me to show you Ronaldo's blog sometime. We're talking giant robot hands from space weird," Jamie explained.

"Ronaldo? Is that the crazy guy from the fry shop? I'm not sure he's the most reliable source. About anything. Ever." Sheena finished with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yes, my dear, he prides himself in finding and documenting all the strange things that happen around here. Many people don't believe him, are willing to accept that the world is every bit as boring as they've been led to believe. But I believe him. As an _actor,_ I always yearn for more! For meaning!" Jamie finished, volume increasing to unhealthy levels.  
"Alright, dork, calm down. I guess I'll just have to find out what's going on for myself one of these days. Though, I have to admit, Pearl is far from normal. Maybe something _is_ up?"

"Abnormal in what way?" Sheena could tell this was going to be an interrogation.

"Well, um, I've never seen her eat anything, and she always gets weird when her family comes up, and she says she 'protects humanity' and 'saved our planet,' like what the hell does that even mean? God she's the best," Sheena covered her mouth suddenly after that last part slipped out, but she could tell the damage had already been done.

Jamie's eyes got huge and starry, "You're in love with her, aren't you?! Oh my God!"

The pink-haired girl giggled nervously. "Shut up! We've been on like, two dates!" She could feel her face heating up, but hoped her roommate wouldn't notice.

" _You so are!"_ Jamie yelled dancing a little in place, "dibs on best man! Oh, oh, or I'll be the minister!"

"Goodnight, Jamie," Sheena said decisively, trying not to laugh as she turned around to head to her room.

"Let me know when it's time to go ring shopping! Oh, oh, how do you feel about camellias for the centerpieces?" Sheena chose to slam the door behind her rather than answering that question. She quickly changed into an old band t-shirt and some pajama shorts before sinking into her bed with a sigh. _What a night._ She quickly plugged in her dead phone and drifted to sleep, still thinking of the Pearl point, and the look on the woman's face when Sheena had kissed her, and the feeling of the hand in hers, strong and delicate at the same time, if that was even possible. Could there be something off about the girl? _Of course not. Jamie's insane. Ronaldo's insane. I just wish I knew more about her…_

* * *

When Sheena woke up the next morning, she had almost forgotten about her—interesting—conversation with her roommate. She stretched quickly and headed straight for the kitchen; nothing got between this girl and her coffee. She breathed a content sigh as she took her first sip. At that point, Jamie decided to exit his room and make his presence known, "Morning, sunshine."

"Morning," Sheena replied with a yawn. Then she caught a glimpse of the time on the microwave. "How the hell is it 3:00 already?!"  
"Hmm, yeah, I was wondering if I should check on you or something, but I figured you'd probably had a…long night," he winked conspicuously. Sheena rolled her eyes, choosing not to validate that comment with any words. "So, got plans with the lady love today?"

"I dunno dude. For all I know, she has plans or whatever. And don't call her that. You know I'm not looking for anything serious right now." _I shouldn't have told him anything,_ she thought.

"But, Sheena! What about the power of LOVE?!"

"I'm starting to think you're so single that you're trying to live vicariously through my dating life," the girl responded with utmost sarcasm. Jamie had no response and just kind of sulked away, defeated. The pink-haired girl sunk into a chair and powered up her phone. Five missed calls. The number wasn't programmed into her phone, but she knew it anyway, and she didn't want to think about that person. She had something different now. A new life, a new place, a new girl. She didn't need him anymore. She didn't want him.

Jamie reappeared for a moment. "Hey, Sheena, I'm sorry. I know that's kind of a sensitive subject and I never wanted to…"

The pink haired girl cut him off, "No, it's okay. Actually, I think I will go see Pearl today. It'll be fun."

* * *

A/N: I thought it was about time to look into Mystery Girl's life a little more, hope you enjoyed! Also, it's about time somebody didn't just humor Jamie's drama lol. Thanks so much for your reviews, they always make me smile!


	7. Chapter 7

Walking to Pearl's house took a rather long time, and Sheena almost turned back more than once. _God I hope she's there, what if she's not? What do I do if Steven or one of the others answers the door? What if Mr. Universe answers?! Oh my God, does he live there? I don't even know, I should probably ask her one of these days. No, Sheena, you've come this far, you are doing this, goddamnit. You can do this. You deserve it._

"Garnet, I still don't understand why we need to come back right now," Pearl whined as the warp pad activated and both gems appeared in the Temple.

"Steven and Amethyst can handle things there. We need to be here right now." _I hate it when she gets like this,_ Pearl thought. _After all this time, you'd think she'd learn that explaining things can be very beneficial! We don't all have future vision, you know._

* * *

Sheena climbed the stairs to the Temple slowly. _God, this is a bad idea. She'll probably think I'm like, a grade-ten stalker or something. I swear to God, if you mess this up, Sheena, I'll…_ The human girl knocked on the door once, then twice. _Welp, no turning back now._ She heard footsteps wandering tentatively towards the door; she thought she saw the glint of a gemstone through the screen, and closed her eyes as she heard it creak open in front of her.

"It's you!" A familiar voice said surprised, and Sheena just had to smile.

"It's me." She responded, gazing into those blue eyes she had come to adore.

"Oh, um, come in, come in. Welcome to our home," Pearl finished, gesturing broadly at the entirety of the little house. But Sheena's focus quickly turned to a woman by the sofa, standing at least seven feet tall, and that was before you factored in her massive afro. Sheena couldn't see her eyes through her visor, but she was smiling.

"'Sup," The human girl acknowledged the woman in the corner with a small wave.

"Oh! Right, right. Sheena, this is Garnet. Garnet, meet Sheena. My new girlfriend." Pearl stuttered a bit hesitantly. _Did she seriously just say that?! OMG OMG OMG!_

"Your what now?" Garnet asked, walking over to the other two, her grin widening. She shot Pearl a look and gave her a thumbs up.

"Well, um, yes, I mean," Pearl glanced at the pink-haired girl, "if you want to be." It was interesting how Pearl's cheeks turned blue when she blushed instead of red _,_ but Sheena couldn't get over how cute the woman in front of her was. She planted a kiss on Pearl's forehead.

"I thought you'd never ask," she responded, blushing a bit herself. She really wasn't used to showing affection in front of other people, and as much as she adored Pearl, she kinda sorta maybe didn't want to talk about this right now. "And it's nice to meet you, Garnet," she turned to the other woman, hoping to change the subject away from her possible relationship. _Which I want more than anything and am totally ready for,_ she told herself _._ That's why she came all the way over here, right? _Jamie would be so proud._ Sheena shook hands with Garnet, but there was something in the woman's hand, something…hard? And warm, almost hot. She snuck a peek after they had separated, and found that this woman had a gemstone too, dare she guess…a garnet? Embedded in each of her hands, much like the pearl her girlfriend ( _what?!)_ had on her head.

"My roommate said that he knew you, Garnet? Jamie the mailman?" Sheena asked.

"Who?" The woman scoffed.

"You know, Jamie?" Sheena continued awkwardly, looking down but still painfully aware of the woman's gaze through her sunglasses, "he said you were, um, in love?" _Seriously, Sheena? Shut up,_ she thought to herself.

"I don't really date others," Garnet deadpanned. "But Pearl here does, when she's lucky," she put a bejeweled hand on the thin woman's back, smiling again. "I better be going, though. Three's a crowd. You two behave yourselves." She started walking away, but turned back around. "Oh, and Steven and Amethyst will be back in exactly 20 minutes. I'm sure they'll be very excited to meet you, Sheena, should you both decide to stick around." Garnet then walked to a door in the very back of the room, which seemed to glow for a moment before splitting open as if by magic. What? No, that couldn't be right. _You're losing it._ _Listen to me, Sheena. This is your common sense talking. Garnet and Pearl are normal women with somewhat interesting taste in jewelry, who live in a normal house with normal doors. Got it?_ But how could Garnet be so sure of exactly when the others would be back?

Pearl and Sheena made their way into the house, Sheena looking around a bit, trying to take everything in, and Pearl flitting around nervously, looking as if she wanted to make sure everything was perfect. Not that the pink-haired girl cared one bit; she couldn't remember the last time her house had been this clean. Before she and Jamie moved in, probably? "So, um, Sheena, what would you like to do? Can I get you a beverage or snack?"

"No, no, I'm okay," Sheena responded, taking a seat on the couch. "Can we just…chill? And talk?" I think I'm ready to see my Pearl in her natural habitat."

"Okay, um, sure," Pearl sat down as well, her body incredibly tense. She had had time to get ready for her previous dates with this girl, but was so completely not ready for whatever this was. "Though we should probably go for a walk, so as not to get interrupted when the other two get back. They're not like Garnet, they'll be pestering us constantly," Pearl chuckled a little at the thought.

"I don't mind," Sheena chuckled, "I'm sure they're great. Garnet seems nice." How does one even begin to ask the kinds of questions that Sheena had?

"Oh, um, yeah, she's great. I've known her for a very long time." The human girl couldn't help but notice the way that Pearl was avoiding eye contact, so she gently lifted the woman's chin and kissed her, slowly, tenderly, as she felt the woman relax at the contact.

After she pulled away, Sheena looked right at the girl in front of her and took a deep breath before she asked, "Um, Pearl? Your name is Pearl, and you have a pearl on your forehead. And she's Garnet, and she has a garnet stone on each hand. If I had to guess, I'd say that the other girl I keep hearing about, Amethyst, has an amethyst somewhere on her body? So, um, why is that? Is it some sort of body mod or something? Is there a story behind it, some kind of meaning? Is that why my roommate calls you the Crystal Gems?" Sheena sighed leaned back on the couch, a little surprised that those words had all made it out of her mouth, coherently, no less.

Pearl just stared at the girl for a moment, eyes somehow growing even bigger. "Well, I guess it's about time that I told you about…me. About us."  
"You don't have to, I mean, if it's too personal, if it's private…" Sheena could feel herself growing more nervous. _I knew I should've kept my mouth shut._

"No, no, you need to know this. You _deserve_ to know this. I want to be honest with you, Sheena, it's just…a lot. It's a very long story." Sheena smiled sadly. She knew a thing or two about long stories. "I guess the first thing you should know is that…I'm not like you. Or Greg, or Jamie. I'm not…" Pearl sighed and looked away, "I'm not human."

Sheena stared into the other woman's eyes, but could only breathe out a faint, "What?"

"Do you remember, when I first met, when I told you that I, my body, my appearance, is just a conscious manifestation of light?"

"I—I thought that was a joke, or some kind of weird pickup line."

"No, no. Sheena, I'm not from around here. I'm from somewhere far, far away. A different planet in a different star system." The human girl tried to speak, but no words would come out, and Pearl knew she had to continue before she lost her courage and retreated into her room forever. "I—we—are gems. That's our genus, if you will, the type of being that we are, and within that category there are many different types of gems. My gemstone—" Pearl pointed at her forehead, "My gemstone houses my essence, I guess you could call it. Everything you see, everything I do, everything I am, is simply a projection from the pearl on my forehead. Similarly, Garnet's form comes from the stones on each of her hands. I, um, are you okay?" She looked at Sheena's wide-eyed expression, mouth hanging open slightly, worried that she'd said too much, even though she knew that in the grand scheme of things, she'd actually said very little. "I know that this is a lot to take in, and I—understand—if you're no longer interested in seeing me."

After a few seconds, Sheena was able to snap out of her trance-like state, and couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes that's what you do when you don't know what else to say or how to feel, when you simply couldn't believe it. "What, Sheena, are you okay? What's gotten into you? What's so funny?" Pearl asked, growing increasingly concerned. She had played out this scenario in her mind dozens of times, thought she had pictured every reaction Sheena could possibly have. But there was no way she could have been ready for this.

"You're an alien. Of course you are," Sheena said between laughs, trying and failing to regain her composure. "I knew you were a little weird, Pearly, but I never thought you could possibly be… _out of this world!_ "

Pearl did not appreciate the pun properly, and was almost offended by Sheena's laughter. Did she think saving and protecting humanity was some sort of _joke?_ The human girl was able to get control of herself after about another minute and a few deep breaths, and got immediately serious. "I'm sorry, I just don't even know what to say, and I almost can't believe it, my girlfriend's an alien!" Sheena would never admit it, but she was having more trouble with the "girlfriend" part of that than the "alien" part.

"And you're not…afraid? You don't want to stop seeing me?" Pearl just looked at the women in front of her with disbelief.

"Of course not, you're still a smokin' hot, awesome babe. The fact that you're from another planet doesn't change that. How the hell did I get so lucky?"

"Honestly, I can't help but think the same thing," the gem blushed a little at this confession.

"Wait, I have to ask, just so we're clear—you're not gonna like, abduct me or eat my brain anything, are you? Hell, how did you even get here in the first place?"

"What?!" Pearl squawked, "No, no, our job is to protect humanity! We…"

"Protect it from what, exactly?" Pearl hesitated for a moment, and was actually grateful when the warp pad activated behind her.

"We're hooommmeee!" Amethyst announced as she and Steven appeared in the light.

"Holy crap!" Was all Sheena could manage as she watched this occur, her eyes as big as dinner plates. "They just…how is that even…"

The human girl was cut off by an exceedingly excitable Steven, who rushed over to them faster than Sheena thought was possible and wrapped her in a hug, climbing into her lap unexpectedly. "You're here! You're here! It's so great to finally meet you!"

The pink haired girl chuckled a little and muttered, "You too, Steven,"

"Pearl is very fond of yoouuu!" A purple gem sang excitedly as she joined them. "I'm Amethyst, by the way. I'm the fun one." Sheena noted the amethyst stone embedded in the girl's chest, and her mind flooded with even more questions. How would she possibly ask them all?

* * *

A/N: And so it begins... I've always liked the idea of getting to know a person's background gradually, slowly going deeper and deeper as the secrets and stories reveal themselves. It just seems more realistic that way. Eventually, we'll get into Sheena's backstory, too. Enjoy! :)


	8. Chapter 8

Sheena's mind was racing so fast with everything swirling around her, Pearl and Amethyst arguing loudly next to her about who-knows-what, all this crazy new information. She wasn't sure she could handle any more surprises today, and as she tried to get her brain back under control, she didn't realize the direction in which she had zoned out.

"Hey!" Chubby, purple fingers snapped in Sheena's face. "If you wanna stare, I'm gonna have to charge you!" Sheena quickly snapped her gaze away from the short gem's chest/stone/boobs, feeling her face heat up.

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—"The pink haired girl rambled incoherently, "I'm just not used to seeing…"

"Dude. Stop. You're fine. I know they're pretty irresistible," Amethyst grabbed her boobs playfully. "Just be careful, though, this one can get a little jealous," she muttered loud enough that Pearl could hear her.

"I shall keep my eyes under control!" Sheena obeyed quickly.

"That's what I like to hear! Can't have you breaking our girl's heart, can we?" Amethyst nudged the taller gem playfully and received a death glare in response.

" _Amethyst!"_ Steven yelled impatiently from the kitchen.

"Ah. Right. I promised Stee-man we'd try a new recipe tonight. Snack sushi spaghetti surprise!"

"With extra pickles!" The boy cut in.

"Of course, who could forget?" Amethyst joked. "Sheena, you're welcome to join us if you'd like, this is bound to be genius!"

"That sounds…terrible. Let's do it. Pearl, are you ready for this?"…Awkward silence.

"Umm, Pearl doesn't really… Eat." Steven muttered quietly.

Sheena glanced at her girlfriend nervously. "You what?"

Pearl giggled awkwardly. "Well, you see, gems don't _need_ to eat. I get all my energy from my gem. Amethyst likes to eat, but most gems really don't. I actually find it very uncomfortable. I do, however, enjoy the process of cooking."

"…Alright," the human girl muttered as she stepped closer to Amethyst and Steven, who had begun bustling around the kitchen. She couldn't explain why, but she felt comfortable with these people (Gems? Sheena had _no idea_ what she was supposed to call them). Despite her confident exterior, Sheena was normally terrified around new people. _But it's not going to be like that anymore,_ she thought.

"So, shall we do this?" Pearl asked awkwardly, coming to stand next to the human girl.

"Nah, Pearl, not if you're not into it. I just came to hang with you, just to talk and chill and stuff."

"Laaammeee," Amethyst interrupted rudely, smudging a little marinara sauce on Pearl's face as the taller gem tried unsuccessfully to hide her annoyance.

Through her giggles, Sheena managed to say, "Here, let me get that," as she rubbed her thumb across the gem's pointy nose. She then licked the sauce off her finger to the sound of Steven' s "awwww!"

Pearl wasn't sure if she could ever admit it, but this was the most fun she'd had in a while. Steven and Amethyst had a way of making everything exciting, and she hoped that her girl could handle the crazy. After all, sometimes she couldn't handle it. And she'd been a Crystal Gem for 6000 years. She watched her friends fill their bellies and couldn't help but smile.

Shortly after she finished eating, Amethyst got up and prepared to make a quick exit. "Steven, can you help me with a thing? In my room?" She asked.

"Um, what thing?"

"STEVEN HELP ME WITH THE THING!" She shouted as she almost dragged the boy through the temple door. Pearl knew what the shorter gem was doing (after all, subtlety was never Amethyst's strong suit) and she would have to thank her later. As much as she loved Steven, the boy had a difficult time with things like privacy and boundaries. Maybe something to discuss with Greg and the others one of these days, but for now, she had a woman to attend to.

Sheena had insisted upon helping her girlfriend with the dishes, which Pearl appreciated, though her technique was definitely lacking. Pearl's perfectionism would surely cause her to re-wash them, but she didn't mind. "Sorry about them," Pearl said after a few minutes of relative quiet. "They can get a bit… Loud. And excitable. And out of control."

The human girl chuckled. "I like them, they're fun. And Steven's super sweet."

"He is," Pearl smiled and couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. There was so much this girl still didn't know about her. _And so much I'm not sure I ever want her to know,_ Pearl thought.

"I was starting to think you were sick," The human girl admitted quietly.

"What?"

"You weren't eating. You kept avoiding it and getting uncomfortable whenever I mentioned it. I was starting to get worried, I thought maybe you were sick, or had an eating disorder or something. I want you to share with me, Pearl. I want you to let me into your world, whatever that is." Sheena ended with a smile to hide the fact that sharing this kind of information was _so hard_ for her (especially without alcohol).

"Oh, um, I'm sorry." Pearl avoided eye contact, "It's just been a while since I've had to explain all this. Like I said, it's a lot."

"Hey, we'll take it slow. That works. Lord knows I've got secrets too," Sheena smiled.

Pearl stole a glance at the painting of Rose on the wall, the gem who, she was slowly finding out, had more secrets than possibly anyone. Secrets that came back to wreak havoc on her, Steven's, and the others' lives. This certainly didn't go unnoticed by Sheena, who dried her hands before wrapping them around her girlfriend and asking, "Pearl, who is that?"

It took Pearl a second before she quietly responded, "That's Rose. Steven's mother." She wasn't sure she was ready to share all of this in one day, but if she was really going to let Sheena into her life, she couldn't see a way around it. And Pearl wanted nothing more to let Sheena into her life.

"Oh, um, okay." Sheena knew this was a sensitive subject for the thin woman, so she chose to be satisfied with that answer, even though she was sure there was far more to say about the famous Rose. "She looks like someone I knew, a long time ago," Sheena thought about that for a second. "Now you get to ask me a question."

* * *

A/N: Holy moly, it has been a long time, hasn't it? I started a new job and moved and had 0% motivation and before I knew it it'd been like, months. Sorry Dragon, I hope you can forgive me. Another chapter should be on the way very soon!


	9. Chapter 9

Sheena and Pearl talked into the wee hours of the morning, despite Steven having tossed a few pillows their way when they were too loud. Pearl insisted upon walking her girlfriend home, even though "It's kinda far and you really don't have to." Luckily, Jamie was asleep by the time they arrived, and the whole house was dark, just how Sheena liked it. "Wanna come in, Pearly? I can get you water or, um, I don't really know what a gem would need?"

"Not much, honestly," Pearl chuckled. "After we're made, we're pretty self-sufficient." She noticed the human girl's expression falter a little bit, but didn't think too much of it as she planted a kiss on Sheena's cheek and turned around to leave. Sheena looked at her phone; a text from the same number as before. She wasn't sure she even wanted to know what it said. _Nope, nope, I can handle this, Sheena, don't do anything crazy._ She locked the door behind her and turned to her room, feeling ready to sleep for a very long time. She tried to shake the negative thoughts from her head, and focus only on the time she'd just spent with Pearl. She wanted to think of Pearl's smile, her pointy nose, her blue blush, the iridescent stone on her forehead. But her mind kept wandering back to the unread text, and eventually caved:

"C'mon, you can't say you don't miss me"

 _In fact I could say that,_ was Sheena's first thought. _But it wouldn't be true,_ was her second. _But he's gone now, he's out of my life and that's a good thing. I just…Who gives him the right to do this? I hate how a simple missed call or text from him makes me feel this way. Scared. Angry. Vulnerable. Damn, I hate being vulnerable. It's okay, Sheena, just go to sleep, you'll feel better in the morning. Maybe._ She cycled through these thoughts a few more times before she did something she never wanted to do. She pulled her phone out again and found the number for someone else, someone better.

"Sorry Pearl, I didn't want to be like this, but I really do want you to come back over, maybe spend the night if you can. If not I understand. Sorry."

It took about 15 minutes, but Sheena heard a knock on the door and almost ran to meet the gem. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing, I'm okay. Can we just hang for a little longer?"

Pearl thought about saying no; she really did need to take in everything that had happened in the past 12 hours, think about it, analyze it, like she always did. In fact, if she were human, she might even say that the events of today had left her "exhausted." But something about the look on Sheena's face, wild, almost desperate, made her stay, and she felt herself nod slowly, involuntarily.

The human girl beckoned her in and implored her, "Come lay with me." Pearl complied, still confused and unsure. She perched awkwardly at the end of Sheena's bed, awaiting further instruction. "You can wear this if you'd like," Sheena tossed one of her favorite t-shirts in Pearl's direction before getting comfy on the opposite side of the mattress.

Pearl stared at the garment for a moment before she realized she _would_ like, and slipped it over her head, phasing her ribboned tunic off in the process. "Is this right?" She asked.

"Yup, now lay down, you got it." This felt so strange, but she didn't dislike it. In fact, as Pearl's head rested on Sheena's chest, her first thought was how soft she was. She inched closer, and was enveloped in her girlfriend's warmth. "The closeness feels nice, doesn't it, Pearl?"

Pearl could only manage a quiet "mmm-hmm" as she let herself relax. Sheena tried to relax, too, and of course she loved the feeling of Pearl's head on her chest and her petite frame snuggled close. She watched the gem's eyes close and a small smile form on her face, and Sheena had to smile too. But for the life of her, she just couldn't relax, and damn, she was trying. She just wanted to forget the text and think of all the wonderful things that had happened. And preferably ignore the crazy ones for the time being. There was so much she didn't know about Pearl; she literally had no idea who or _what_ her girlfriend was. How did she run without food? Why on Earth was she even here? She had seen that Pearl was getting overwhelmed from all the questions, so she backed off even though there were still _so many._ Sheena still wasn't sure exactly who or what Pearl was protecting Earth from either. She probably wasn't ever meant to know. But yet here she was. Sheena tried to close her eyes and concentrate on something calming, something she knew. This worked for maybe a minute or two, before her brain ran off again and her eyes flew open in frustration. That's when she saw it. A strange glow, coming from…Pearl? Yes, the gem on her forehead was emitting a blue light, making a blue circle on the wall next to her. _What the hell?_

Then the images started appearing. And the sound. She saw Pearl, in some kind of weird mechanical room, laughing with Steven, who was holding up his ice cream. "Oooohh he's a frozen treat with an all new taste…" She saw a big shadow appear behind the boy. "'Cause he came to this planet from outer spaaa…" a door opened behind them, and they both flew out, sucked into space. Sheena watched in horror as a bubble formed around both of them, Pearl clinging tightly to Steven. Pearl sang to him; a song Sheena didn't recognize. "I can show you how to be strong, in the real way, and I know that we can be strong…" Then before her eyes, Steven began to change. He grew bigger, a lot bigger. His hair turned pink, and a long skirt formed where his jeans used to be. Sheena recognized the woman who had appeared, the same as in the painting at Pearl's house: The famous Rose.

The bubble popped around them and Sheena watched as Pearl clung tightly to the other woman. "Pearl…" Rose said slowly, carefully.

"Yes?!"

"A refugee, from an interstellar war…"

"Yes, yes, we are and we survived! And now we can be together, here on Earth!"

"And now he's at your local grocery store!" Pearl looked at the other woman in shock, but didn't let go.

"Pearl, this world is so incredible. The life here is so complicated, and yet so simple. Here, you can finally be free." Rose said, almost like she was talking to herself rather than to Pearl. "Pearl, you need to be free!" Rose tossed Pearl into the air, and Sheena watched as the Pearl in the dream grew wings and her body turned into that of a bird. Pearl squawked and shrieked, confused, circling Rose.

Their environment turned into a field full of strawberries and weapons, _what an interesting combination,_ Sheena thought. The larger woman was standing with a giant sword as Pearl flitted around her. "Rose! Rose! I want to be with you!"

Rose threw strawberries at the bird, as Pearl flew higher and higher to try to avoid them. "Fly, little bird!"

Finally Bird Pearl broke free of the onslaught of berries, and Rose was out of view completely. And Bird Pearl kept going, away from the field, into the sky, until she saw another lady, a gem perhaps, with wings made of water. The other woman gave Pearl a simple thumbs up and flew away, at which point she turned back into her regular self. Pearl was falling, falling, into…Ice cream? At least, that's what it looked like. A giant Cookie Cat, with a face and everything, Sheena loved those before they got discontinued. And Pearl was headed directly for it. And, in true dream fashion, before Pearl hit the ice cream, her eyes sprung open, and she made an "auughhh" noise.

Sheena pulled her girlfriend even closer as she saw two blue eyes staring back up at her. She wasn't sure if she should mention what she saw or not; after all, she'd surely had some dreams that she'd rather not share. So she picked up a beanie from the floor next to her and gently placed it on Pearl's head as the gem nuzzled her and dozed off again. Sheena felt like she could finally sleep now, too.

* * *

A/N: Well, that got weird, didn't it? I have NO IDEA where that came from, but I'm on a roll! Also, it's probably worth noting that I'm trying to run my story parallel to the canon plot line, with this most recent chapter happening right before Gem Harvest. Of course accepting the possibility that it could all be contradicted in future episodes lol. Anyway have a good day!


	10. Chapter 10

Sheena woke up the following morning, and her heart immediately sank when she realized there was no longer a cute alien sharing her bed. _Well, I'm sure she's really busy saving the world or whatever. Maybe it was too much to ask her to spend the night at this point,_ she tried to reassure herself, still groggy. Sheena stretched and walked into the kitchen, seeking coffee. "M'lady Sheena!" A familiar voice called as she walked in. "I understand you had a very special visitor last night!"

"Oh, God, here I thought I was being subtle," Sheena rolled her eyes as she tried to hide a smile.

"And you would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for these delicious muffins!" Jamie threw one to the girl. "So do I get to meet her or what?!"

"Oh, um, she's not here anymore," Sheena said with her mouth full, hoping she could avoid the topic all together.

Jamie was speechless for a brief moment, unsure of how to continue. "Oh…Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I mean she did make us muffins. Maybe I was moving a little fast for her anyway, I'm not gonna bother her." Sheena nodded as if she believed this statement. "She's probably busy with whatever the hell gems do."

"I've been here my whole life, and I'm still not exactly sure what that is," The mailman said sheepishly.

"Me neither," Sheena mimicked his tone, "But it looks like I'm about to find out."

"Yeah, dude. Just be careful. It seems like they kinda attract trouble, I remember some giant hand in the sky, and all kinds of crazy earthquakes, an occasional monster sighting, and while I'm all for a compelling story…"

"I'll be fine, you know I'm tough," Sheena smiled down at Jamie.

"I know, but worrying is like, basically my job."

"Really? Because you're my roommate, or because you're an _actor?"_

Jamie peeked over his imaginary glasses before uttering, " _Both."_

* * *

Pearl arrived at the Temple at about 6:30 the next morning after seeing herself out. Sheena appeared to be sleeping soundly, after all. She opened the door carefully, trying _not_ to wake Steven this time. Pearl tried to remember the weird dream she'd had; something about a bird, and strawberries, and…Rose. She gazed at the painting on the wall and thought, _one of these days I'm going to have to tell her._ Pearl couldn't believe she'd actually fallen asleep, and in a human's arms no less; Pearl _never_ let her guard down like that. Humans always talked about sleep like it was refreshing, like it helped them regain energy or something, but Pearl still didn't get it; the more details she recalled of the dream, the more exhausted she felt. She was definitely ready to wallow in her room for a while and not talk to anyone.

* * *

It had been a few days since Sheena had heard from Pearl. She knew she shouldn't worry; after all, Pearl was a fully-grown, adult, self-sufficient…whatever she was. _And Sheena, if she doesn't like you, you have to accept that and move on,_ the human girl thought to herself. She had always had a difficult time with that. Maybe she'd been a bit too pushy; _augh, why do I always do that?_ She just—really hadn't wanted to be alone at that moment. She could've worked through it, probably, but sometimes it just felt better to have someone close. Safer, really, if she could trust that someone. Trust was never easy, though. But Sheena was not going to think about the gem today. She was very busy with her own life, thank you very much. _I'm a self-sufficient adult, too._ So she headed over to the garage, ready to clear her head and maybe even get some work done. She pulled herself under a particularly nice, older Mustang, sighing as the distinctive smell of motor oil engulfed her. _Now this is how you clear your head._ She worked quickly, carefully, efficiently, loving that she didn't need to see anyone or worry at all about the outside world. She could just disappear for a little while into something she loved.

Sheena emerged what she thought was just an hour later, and was surprised to see the sun setting. Had she really just spent upwards of six hours on this car alone? Sure, the car needed a lot of work, and of course it was worth it, but it was a little concerning how time could just slip away like that. She stepped outside, taking in a deep breath of the night air. She closed her eyes for just a moment, and when she opened them, came face to face with— _no way._ The creature in front of her, a lion, was _huge._ They didn't even have animals like this in Beach City; there wasn't even a zoo nearby! She backed away slowly, stumbling over herself a bit. No, no, this couldn't be real. The lion was pink, and was staring directly at her, almost like it knew her. She closed her eyes, shook her head a bit, and opened them again, fully expecting the animal to be a figment of her imagination. But it was still there, looking as intently as before. _I can't be_ that _sleep deprived, can I?_ She thought. _Did someone like, slip me something? How? Did I take something? I don't think so…_ It took a few seconds before Sheena started to panic. She was quickly backed into the garage door. _This is it, I guess._ She crouched down, as small as she could make herself, with her arms over her head, expecting the worst. _That's what you're supposed to do when you're inches away from a wild animal, right?_ And she waited. And waited. _Surely if it wants to eat me it wouldn't take this long, right?_ After a while, she lifted her head up, slowly, cautiously, and…the creature was gone. _You really are losing it, aren't you, Sheena?_

Sheena stepped back into the garage, admiring her handiwork and trying to relax. _Maybe just a quick ride would be okay, right? You know, just to make sure everything's good. I have been working really hard…_

And without a second thought, the pink haired woman was behind the wheel, going nearly double the speed limit on the empty road. She loved feeling the wind in her hair, and being so in control. It was just her and the night sky, and Sheena couldn't ask for anything more. She sped up and down the mountains outside of Beach City, where she had seen drag racers zoom by many times before. The view truly was stunning; Sheena hadn't realized how beautiful Beach City was until that moment. She gazed upon the scenery until she made it down the hill, becoming a little more careless with every turn. She hit the bottom of the hill hard, spinning the car as she did. Mud flew up all around her in a twister, covering the vehicle ( _Mudnado,_ she chuckled) and the girl. _Ohhh crap. The guy is gonna to be here to pick up his car tomorrow. I wonder if there are any car washes open this late? Damn, I'm really not prepared to clean up this mess._

Sheena drove back into town, carefully this time, in search of somewhere with lights on. _How is it already midnight, for Christ's sake?_ She thought. At least she had succeeded in focusing on something other than Pearl. All the buildings she passed were dark. It seemed like this whole town went to bed before ten, it was so strange to someone who had grown up in the big city. Sheena didn't necessarily mind, though; it was nice to be somewhere quiet for a change. Her friends back in Empire City would surely call her boring these days, but there were a lot of things that they didn't understand, Sheena reminded herself. After a few minutes, Sheena saw a small, neon light in the distance, and steered the Mustang towards it slowly. As she got closer, she read, "It's a Wash" and saw a lone van parked outside. Sheena chuckled at the pun as she pulled up and thought, _It doesn't hurt to check._

"Hello? Is anyone here?" As she walked by the van, she was sure she heard something inside.

Suddenly, the van door flew open as Sheena jumped back in surprise. "Who's there?! I have a waffle iron!"

"Oh, um, I'm so sorry, I'll just go, I…" Sheena backed away slowly, keeping her eyes on the figure in the darkness.

"No, no, do you need something? Are you lost?"

"Oh, um, no, it's just-" Sheena beckoned to the car. "It's not mine, and I made a huge mess, and yours was the only place with lights on and…"

"Wait. Sheena?" The girl stared confused for a moment, trying to focus on the man in front of her.

"Um, who are you?" She asked, suspicious.

"I'm Greg, I think we met at the cell phone store. I'm Pearl's friend, or something like that?" The balding man stepped into the light and Sheena finally saw him.

" _Mr. Universe…"_ The girl muttered. "You know who I am?!" She almost shouted as the shock hit her.

"No, really, call me Greg. And yeah. I mean, Pearl talks about you all the time and if you're gonna be hanging around my family, I kinda want to know who you are. Seem fair?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Is Pearl…Your family?" Sheena felt a bit guilty for asking this, but it wasn't like she'd been able to get much information from Pearl.

"I think so, yeah. At least, that's the best word I have for her and the other gems. After all, they've really stepped in to help me with Steven. I wouldn't even know where to begin with all this magic stuff," Greg shrugged as he took a step closer to Sheena and her car.

"Wait. Magic…Stuff?" Sheena had certainly seen some weird things in the past few weeks: Steven and Amethyst appearing out of a beam of light, Pearl not eating, the lion. But could it really be called magic? Sheena had stopped believing in magic back when she was a kid, but no science could possibly explain that stuff.

"Yeah. I'm probably not the best person to explain this, but they have different powers that we mere humans just don't. Like they can summon weapons from their gems, they don't need to eat or sleep, they can shapeshift, it's pretty wild. Hell, one of the other gems, Lapis, made an accordion out of this van with her water powers."

Sheena just stared at him speechless for a moment before she managed to get out, "…Wow. I still have so much to learn."

Greg nodded, "I know how that is. The gems, they're pretty far out. They mean well, at least the ones here on Earth do, but there's so much about Earth and humans that they still don't understand. Pearl especially."

"Pearl…hasn't exactly been the most forward with all that stuff. It's starting to get a bit suspicious, to be honest."

"Ah, I understand why. She's seen a lot, and I know over the years it's been hard for her to leave her home planet and especially to then have Rose…leave her."

Sheena looked confused. "I keep hearing about this Rose, but I don't actually know anything about her… Who was she?"

Greg sighed. "She was the most incredible being I've ever met. She was caring, and gentle, and funny, and she fought hard for what she believed in. Did Pearl tell you that they saved Earth?"

"Yeah, she did, not that I have any idea what that means."

"Fair enough. It's a lot. It all is. Pearl knows that, I know that. She doesn't want to scare you away. But, the short version is that there were other gems, from Pearl's Homeworld, that wanted to destroy the Earth. Rose thought that was wrong, and she, Pearl, Garnet, and some others fought against their own kind for thousands of years. But they saved us. And lost a lot of their own in the process."  
Sheena looked at the man with stars in her eyes, unable to form a sentence. Could this possibly be true? For every answer, there were like 15 more questions. It was _exhausting._ "So, um, there are other gems out there? Bad gems? Like the one who wrecked your van?"

"Yeah, you could say that. I mean, Lapis and I get along now, she lives in my family's barn not too far from here. Just visited her and Peridot yesterday, actually, had a bit of a family reunion. It was chaotic, but…nice. But the gems on the Homeworld aren't like the ones here. I know Pearl and the others are always worried about them coming back to cause trouble."

And that was the maximum amount of crazy that Sheena's brain could process in one day; and honestly, she was surprised she'd made it this far. The girl tried to make sense of some of it, to no avail. Not to mention, she had _no_ idea what she'd say to Pearl about all this stuff. Sheena stood, frozen in place, as Greg took a closer look at the Mustang, then grabbed the hose and carefully spraying it down, "accidentally" getting Sheena wet in the process. After all, if someone was going to bother him this late at night, they kinda deserved it, right? Sheena, still in a bit of shock, just laughed and pretended to be annoyed.

"Oh, and one more thing. Sheena, I'm not sure Pearl would want me to tell you this, but she was in love with Rose. She has—um, _had_ been for thousands of years before I came into their lives. I think, I _hope,_ she's moved on, but I just felt like it was important for you to know."  
"I thought maybe," Sheena muttered quietly. There was a long, awkward pause before the girl added, "I saw the painting. I know she looks like me."

"She does, a bit. Does that bother you?" Sheena thought for a moment before slowly nodding her head yes.

* * *

A/N: This... Was long overdue, tbh. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing. You make me smile :)


	11. Chapter 11

Warning: This chapter contains a Game of Thrones spoiler (not a recent one, from seasons 3 or 4). If you don't want to read said spoiler, skip the first section and start reading after the line dealio.

Only a few short days after Sheena returned the Mustang to its rightful owner, the blizzard hit. _Bad time to drive a convertible,_ she thought. Hell, Sheena must have been just a kid the last time it snowed this much; Empire City must be completely shut down. Sheena started seriously considering wearing ice skates everywhere. Not that she could skate. The human girl mostly enjoyed binge watching Game of Thrones with her roommate, despite Jamie's awkward commentary toward some of the sex and murder scenes. "Sheena, can you believe it? He broke his vow for her! But he was never truly loyal to her, was he? Overcome by lust, feeling her womanly form in his arms as he tasted her sweet flesh! Did it mean nothing, Sheena?"

"Oh my God, stop!" The girl replied jokingly.

"Just look at this cruel reality, in which love can never survive! By gods, let them stay in that cave forever, cradling each others' bosoms—"  
"Seriously? Who says 'bosoms'?"

"And never have to face their duties, the war and sorrow. The way she had to turn against him! The jealousy, anger, betrayal! And he left her behind!"  
"You know, we _can_ put in a Disney movie. In fact, I'd prefer it at this…"

"Oh, what a way to go, Sheena! She died in her lover's arms! Some day, when it comes time for death to consume me, I hope to meet the same fate, with a woman who loves me as such!"

"Yeah, I have to go get food or something," Sheena walked toward the door, trying to keep her laughter in. Sometimes Jamie was just too much.

* * *

The pink haired girl was almost knocked back by the wind as she opened the door. But Sheena was not one to give up as she pulled her scarf tighter around her face and stepped out into the storm. She didn't know where she was going, but frankly she had to go somewhere. Perhaps she'd pick up a pizza, or stop by the Big Donut, or maybe she'd just go a block and give up. _No, Sheena, you're better than that._ She trudged through town, not another human being in sight. Or maybe there were humans all around her, it wasn't like Sheena could see more than a few feet in front of her anyway. _This was a terrible idea._ In fact, the pink haired girl seemed to be full of those lately. But Sheena journeyed on; she was nothing if not determined. She had only made it a few blocks before she heard a voice in the distance. "Peridot, I don't think this is going to work. Let's just go back to the barn. We can try again tomorrow."

"No, Lapis! The Camp Pining Hearts: The Documentary comes out on DVD _today._ Not tomorrow, _today._ And I'll be the laughingstock of the entire internet if I don't get my touch stumps on it right this instant! Why don't you try flying again?"

"Um…Okay." Lapis grabbed the green gem around the waist and summoned her wings, but only got a few feet off the ground before—

Sheena turned around just in time to see an oddly shaped figure crash to the ground, and to be honest, was too freezing to really be fazed by it. She stepped over to where the shadow had been, and saw two women laying in the snow pile, one pinned under two large pieces of ice. The human girl couldn't help but notice the teardrop shaped gem embedded in the other girl's back, and she realized that the two in front of her weren't technically girls at all. Nonetheless, Sheena lifted the ice off of them and tried to help them up as the second, shorter gem sprang up and did her best to look intimidating.

"State your purpose, human!" A nasally voice shouted at her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. This weather's pretty wild, you two looked like you needed help," Sheena then offered her hand to the other gem. But the blue gem seemed to be no friendlier than her partner as she gave the human girl a look of either terror or rage as she lifted her arm above her head. Strangely enough, the snowbank seemed to come up with it, before the girl lost control due to the wind and was knocked backward, several feet of snow piling on top of her. Sheena turned to the green gem and gave her a look as she started tugging on a a pair of blue, bare feet ( _Which are hopefully blue because she's, like, an alien or something and not because she's barefoot and wearing a crop top in the middle of a blizzard for Christ's sake,_ Sheena thought.) The other two were able to free the blue gem from the snowbank after a few minutes, but the human girl had had enough screwing around for one day. "You two, come with me. This isn't safe."

The shorter gem looked to the taller one, who thought about it for a moment before she began to follow the human girl back the way she had come. In this case, Sheena's size proved to be an advantage as she was able to wade through the snowdrifts as the two smaller women sank. She did her best to hold on to them as she went, though neither really seemed comfortable with this. And then it hit her. _What on the Earth am I going to do with two strange aliens in my house? Like, I barely know what to do with my alien! Could these be some of the bad gems that Greg was talking about? Is this a terrible idea? Is this the last thing I do before I get like, abducted and thrown into a human zoo or something?_ Sheena knew she couldn't think about this too much, and to be honest, she wasn't scared of these two. _They're like Pearl. And she's not scary, right? Right?!_ The human girl practically dragged the other two up the stairs to her house and threw the door open, almost tossing the two gems inside as she closed it as quickly as possible, though she still ended up letting a fair amount of snow in. Sheena did her best to ignore the curled-up Jamie on the couch, the sheer amount of drama having overtaken his body.

"Okay, gems, um, hi, Sheena here, so like, not to be rude, who are you and what the hell are you doing here?" The green gem just stared at her, and the human girl noticed the blue gem's eyes dart toward the door, then all around the room, as if she was looking for something. Sheena stared back at the smaller gem, wanting to let her know that she was not dealing with any more crap today from anyone.

"Oh, um, I'm Peridot, she's Lapis Lazuli. We were just going to run to the 'store' quickly, but we got caught up in your Earth weather, and we should probably be going and—"

"No." Sheena heard Lapis Lazuli's voice for the first time. "Peri, we don't know what this stuff is, we could've really gotten into trouble out there. It knocked me out of the sky, and throwing water at it just makes it stronger. Not to mention, I find it very unpleasant." She turned to the human girl. "Thank you. May we sit for a bit?" The gem's voice shook a bit as she gazed with big eyes at the human, and Sheena simply beckoned to the couch, where Jamie had become somewhat attentive again. He watched cautiously as the two gems sat beside him and glanced at him awkwardly.

Sheena spoke, standing in front of the others, "So, I just have to make sure, just to get it out of the way: Are either of you going to abduct me, destroy the Earth, or do anything that is in any way nefarious?"

Peridot smiled nervously. "What? No, of course not! I mean, we _used_ to try to destroy the Earth. But not anymore! We betrayed our Homeworld and our leaders and now this is our home, too! We just wanted to get the new Camp Pining Heart DVD and, what do the humans say, 'binge' on it. The fans of my podcast are surely waiting for my 'review.'"  
" _Please_ do not get her started," Lapis tried to hide her smile behind an eyeroll.

"Hey, Sheena's got that DVD!" Jamie interrupted before suddenly getting embarrassed at the three pairs of eyes that had turned to stare at him.

Sheena blushed. "Yeah, um, I used to love that show."

"Yeah, _used to,"_ Jamie scoffed, handing the DVD to Lapis.

"Where did you get this?! It only just came out today!" Peridot stared at the case with stars in her eyes.

"I ordered it online. You could say being friends with the mailman has its perks," Sheena nodded toward her roommate as she slipped the DVD into the player.

As much as Sheena usually enjoyed Camp Pining Hearts, Peridot's reactions to the film proved to be even more entertaining. She was like a one-woman audience, laughing, crying, and gasping at all the appropriate times (as well as some of the inappropriate times). The fact that she would actually cover her mouth with both hands when shocked made it even more amusing. Sheena enjoyed Lapis' occasional sarcastic comments as well, and she felt herself relaxing in the presence of these two basically-strangers, even if their presence came with even more enigmas. The human girl couldn't help herself; when she was sure no one was looking, she snapped a photo of the two brightly-colored aliens and sent it to Pearl with the caption, "Do you know these two?" After all, they said they weren't going to hurt her, but Sheena was _not_ in the business of trusting people she just met. And she _definitely_ wasn't using this as an excuse to text the cute one. She wouldn't do that, she's not all needy and crap, of course not.

* * *

A/N: I just had to include Peri and Lapis because I love them. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, another should be on the way soon! Also, did anyone else see the SU footage from SDCC?! Actual, external screaming (at my laptop) did occur.


	12. Chapter 12

As Pearl got up to pour a cup of tea for Greg, she felt her phone vibrate inside her gem. Pearl didn't think she could ever get used to that feeling, it was just so odd. Pearl knew who it was; after all, the list of people who would contact her was pretty short, and most of them were in the same room as her. Sheena would have to wait a few more minutes though; Pearl was spending time with her family, reflecting on when Steven was just a baby. More specifically, Steven's first winter, during which she and the other gems had, um, kidnapped him, among other things. It was not their best moment; it especially was not Pearl's best moment. She remembered that feeling vividly; like she could never be happy again, like she had no purpose, lost, and confused. Pearl still felt that way sometimes, and she was still discovering all the things she could do on her own. Like moving on. In fact, it was kind of strange, being around Sheena. Her whole life, she had been defined by someone else. A servant on Homeworld, one of hundreds. Rose Quartz's second in command, the renegade, the knight. And even know, as a sort of surrogate mother to Steven, still trying to carry on Rose's legacy, even if she isn't so sure what that means anymore. But Sheena came into her life not knowing about any of that. And now it was Pearl's chance to define herself, on her terms. The thought was intimidating, for certain. Pearl didn't even know where to begin. But another thought soon crossed her mind. _This is what Rose loved about this place; this is what she fought for. Maybe I'll finally get to see what she saw._

After Pearl recounted "the jungle gym incident" (breaking the gems' agreement to _never_ speak of the jungle gym incident), Greg went into another long, somewhat rambly story about toddler Steven painting his father's van with peanut butter, allowing Pearl to zone out a bit. It wasn't long before she felt the tickle of her phone, buzzing in her forehead again. She took it out quietly, glancing at the screen just long enough to see the picture that had appeared, depicting two quite familiar gems. _Oh my stars, what the hell are they doing?! This is so embarrassing…_ Pearl saw the caption of the photo asking, "Do you know these two?" But since she hadn't responded right away, Sheena had texted her something else, a somewhat blunter question, "Are they gonna murder me?" A third message came in. "Also, you're cute." At this, Pearl blushed completely blue as her eyes darted around the room, sure that everyone somehow knew what it said. However, Steven and Amethyst appeared completely engrossed in Greg's story, just as he was completely absorbed in telling it. She felt three eyes gazing through a visor as Garnet gave her a wink of approval, probably. That was what Pearl chose to believe, anyway.

The slim gem sent a quick message of, "Yes, I know them, they're safe, usually, and you are also cute," before slipping the phone back inside her gem. She promptly pulled it out again when she realized, "Wait, how did you find them? What are you doing?" Pearl knew how dangerous Lapis and Peridot had been, but also how vulnerable (not that either would ever admit it). They had such little experience with Earth, with humans. It wasn't that Pearl didn't trust Sheena, or that she assumed her girlfriend had any ill intentions, but surely it would be easy for them to be taken advantage of? Especially by a human as charismatic and…captivating as the pink-haired woman. There was something about her that Pearl couldn't explain, and water and/or metal powers would surely be useless against it. Not to mention, the two most recent Homeworld refugees could be a tad…Unpredictable.

As Pearl was stewing, another message came in. "Come over and see," after the letters were two punctuation marks: a semicolon, and then a parenthesis. Pearl had no idea what significance these marks could possibly hold; maybe it was just a slip of the human girl's finger. Pearl looked around the room again and her eyes met a pair of brown ones as a huge smile spread across Steven's face. She gave him a smirk and turned to walk away, as Amethyst and Greg were deep into their _Little Butler_ fan theories by now and paying no attention to her, and Garnet was, well, being Garnet. She heard little boy footsteps following her, though, and she turned around shortly before she reached the warp pad and bent down to Steven's level.

Pearl showed him the picture as she whispered, "What are they doing at her house? Who knows what kind of trouble they could be getting into?!"  
"Well it kinda looks like they're just watching TV, can't be too—Oh, look, it's Jamie!"

"What could they be saying to her?!" Steven shrugged, and appeared to be racking his brain for something reassuring to say. "And what does this mean?!" Pearl pointed frantically at the punctuation in Sheena's most recent message.

"Ummm, I think that means she wants you to come over. At least that's what it means when Connie sends them." Steven pretended not to notice the look Pearl was giving him as he started looking around. "Lion! Lion! Leeeeoooonnnn!" He eventually heard a huge yawn coming from his bed as he rushed up to see the fuzzy, pink animal. "Lion! You have to take Pearl over to her girlfriend's house to see Lapis and Peridot! It's for LOVE, Lion!" When the animal didn't move, he added, "I have lion lickers in the freezer…"

"Steven, it's okay. I can just see her later, I doubt that Lion would even know where to go." At that moment, Lion let out a huge roar and a portal appeared in front of the boy.

"C'mon, Pearl! Let's go see our friends!" The thin gem cautiously joined Steven on the feline's back, and caught Garnet flashing her a smile before the three of them disappeared into the portal.

Steven, Lion, and Pearl reappeared in front of what was unmistakably Sheena's house. Steven started knocking on the door excitedly. "Sheena! Sheeeeennaaa!" He shouted. "It's Steven! And Pearl!"

It took a minute or two, but eventually the door swung open and a pink-haired girl appeared in the entryway. "Come on, come on, it's freezing." Steven and Pearl hurried through the door, and Lion tried to follow, causing Sheena to jump back a bit. "What the hell is that thing?!" She tried to shut the door but Lion was already halfway in.

"Oh, that's just my magical pink pet lion. Don't worry, he's potty trained," Steven added as he ran up the stairs.

"Of course he is…" The human girl muttered as the animal strolled past her.

"Lapis! Peri! JAMIE!" Steven shouted excitedly as he climbed on the couch between the two gems and hugged each of them. "How did you get here? Are you guys and Sheena like, besties now?!"

"Well, um, it's a funny story, really…" Peridot muttered, looking away from the others.

"Peridot just HAD to have the new Camp Pining Hearts DVD and we got a bit, um, stuck, in the weather," Lapis rolled her eyes jokingly.

"Wait… Steven? How'd you know we were here?" Peridot leaned in close. "Are these humans evil?"

"What? No! I mean probably not," the boy laughed. "Pearl and Sheena are in love!"

Lapis looked at the others skeptically. "Really. I thought Pearl was into their leader, Rose Quartz, with the pink hair and—Oh. That adds up," she deadpanned.

"Psh. As if Quartz soldier would ever fall for a _Pearl,"_ Peri argued.

"You should've seen the inside of her gem. _It was so creepy, Peridot_. We're talking love letters, pictures, a lock or two of pink hair—After a while, she even added a voodoo doll of Steven's dad. I don't know if Rose felt the same way or not, but…Ugh. It was all so weird."

Pearl waited at the top of the stairs to wrap her girlfriend into a giant hug. Sheena lifted her up and was met with a kiss on the forehead. "I was starting to miss you!" Pearl almost yelled.

"Awh, it's only been a week or two," Sheena chuckled.

"I hope Lapis and Peridot aren't causing you too much trouble, I know they can be…"

"Nah, they're fine, I couldn't believe it, but they're even weirder than you, Pearly! Not to mention, they probably would've gotten trapped in the snow for like, days." Sheena laughed at the thought. "We're watching the new Camp Pining Hearts DVD, you a Piner?"

Pearl stared at the human girl. "…Whaattt?"

"Just come in. And maybe we could kick the others out in a bit and get some time with just the two of us?" Sheena raised her eyebrow.

"I suppose so," Pearl replied as her girlfriend dragged her into the living room with the others.

They finished Camp Pining Hearts after a few hours, mostly uneventfully, minus a few occasions in which Peridot would stare at Pearl and then erupt into giggles for some unknown reason (Pearl chose to ignore this). Sheena just felt lucky that she was able to have a certain gem in her lap, where she could easily kiss the top of her head and feel the weight against her chest. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed this. And she had no idea that her very own Pearl was thinking the same thing.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the fluff! I promise the next chapter will have actual plotline/drama lol.


	13. Chapter 13

They ended up watching the Camp Pining Hearts DVD together for several more hours, until Steven had fallen asleep on Lapis' shoulder and the final credits had started to roll. The blue gem woke him up gently. "I think maybe we can brave the storm now," she whispered.

"Nah, it's okay, Lion can portal us back, right?" Steven nudged the pink feline at his feet. "I think you two should stay at the temple though, the barn has like, zero heat. Slumber party?" Lapis and Peridot looked at each other, then at Steven, curiously. "C'mon, it'll be fun!" He stretched and detached himself from the blue gem, getting up slowly. He noticed that Pearl had started to doze off as well, and that Sheena had put a hat over her head to protect her from the embarrassment of having everyone else see her private dreams; after all, Lapis had already shared one of Pearl's secrets today, and Steven had no idea how much Sheena knew. Pearl had always been one to keep secrets, even from him and the other Crystal Gems. Steven pulled Lapis and Peridot off the couch as he nudged Lion some more. He bid Pearl and the two humans goodnight, and soon Lion got up with another thunderous roar. Sheena and Jamie exchanged looks of complete shock as a portal appeared in their living room.

"Hey, um, Pearl? You two behave yourselves!" Peri yelled through her giggles.

Pearl chose not to indulge the smaller gem, turning to Lapis and saying, "Make sure he gets home safe, please?" The blue gem simply nodded before climbing on Lion's back and disappearing into the portal with the others.

Pearl peered over the couch just to lock eyes with a very shocked/confused mailman. "What—they just…HOLY MARLON BRANDO!" Jamie pointed at the spot where the others had been, then at Pearl and Sheena, then put his hand down and continued muttering incoherently.

"C'mon, Pearl, you can ignore him," Sheena said as she grabbed Pearl's hand and guided her to the bedroom. Sheena flopped onto her bed and motioned for the thin gem to do the same. Pearl nestled close to her girlfriend this time, loving the warmth and comfort once again. _What would the gems back on Homeworld say?_ She thought with a small giggle as she buried her face in the human girl's chest. Sheena planted a kiss on the top of Pearl's head before she began awkwardly. "Sooo, Steven has a pink pet lion. Of course he does."

"Oh, um, yeah, we think Lion has some connection to Rose, it has some magical powers that the others and I have never seen before."

"And you're just going to let him keep it?"

"Well, yeah, I mean—we kept Amethyst." Sheena honestly couldn't tell if her girlfriend was joking or not, so she just chuckled quietly, sure that Pearl could feel it on her pointy nose.

"So, do you always come and go by Lion? Is that the latest thing?"

"No, no. The lion really only listens to Steven, maybe his friend Connie or their fusion, Stevonnie occasionally." Pearl stated simply, wondering just how much detail she should go into about gem transportation and the like.

"Steven? Connie? Stevonnie? What's that, their celebrity couple name?"  
Pearl looked up at the human girl, surprised. "In a way, yes." Steven had just been explaining things like "couples' names" and "ships" to her not very long ago, in hopes that she would better be able to understand what Lapis and Peridot talked about all the time. She still didn't.

There was silence for a moment or two before Pearl continued, "Sheena, I know it has to be—overwhelming—dating someone like me, I know that there's so much you don't know, that you must be wondering. And I know that there's some stuff that I don't really talk about, because it's hard, or confusing, or I honestly just don't know where to begin. But I want to help you understand. Just like I want to understand you and your world, if you'll let me."

Sheena gazed affectionately at the gem for a moment before she quietly admitted, "I saw Steven's dad last week. At the car wash. We talked for a bit, about—stuff. This kinda stuff."

"He would know, wouldn't he?" Pearl smiled at the thought of everything that man had been through.

"He said that there were other gems, from your home planet, who were trying to destroy the Earth. That you and, um, Steven's mom fought against your own people."

"That's true, well, that's the short version anyway. I wasn't joking when I said I saved your planet. Rose Quartz, she wasn't like other gems. She thought that the life here had value, and that gems should be able to decide what they are and what they want to be—kind of like humans do. It was completely revolutionary; she changed my life."

"She sounds pretty damn incredible," Sheena muttered quietly.

"She was, in every sense of the word," Pearl continued, almost dreamily, until she saw that the human girl had looked away from her, almost as if she was trying to concentrate on anything else. "But she's gone now. I have Steven and you and Garnet and Amethyst. I'm sorry, it's just—she was such an important part of my life for so long, it's hard not to think about her."  
"I gotcha," Sheena said sadly, still not making eye contact with the gem laying on her chest. How could she ever hope to measure up to this mysterious woman from the past? Sheena wished it didn't constantly feel like she had to.

* * *

A/N: Next up: What happens when Porl has to go into space to save Greg from the evil space dictators! Stay tuned


	14. Chapter 14

"I'm sorry, Sheena, but I can't come over. We need to go to space to save Greg, I have no idea when we'll be back. It could be years, it could be never. I didn't want it to happen like this, but we don't have a choice. I hope I can see you again. If anything happens, go find Lapis and Peridot, they'll protect you. Have a good life. I'm sorry. Again." Pearl quickly hung up before the human girl had a chance to respond, trying to hold back tears as she stepped onto the warp pad to go to the barn. She had thought about just leaving without saying anything, but Sheena deserved better than that. _She deserves better than me,_ Pearl thought. Amethyst gave her a quick side hug as they disappeared into the light.

* * *

Sheena was barely awake when she got the call from Pearl, and it took a few moments for her brain to process what was happening. _Space? Gone…Possibly forever?_ The realization hit her like a freight train. She buried her face into her pillow; maybe if this was a dream, she could shake herself out of it. But she quickly realized that this wasn't going away. _Unlike Pearl,_ she thought with a hint of bitterness. _Wait, no, shit. That's probably the truth…What? How? Damn, I'm going to miss her, she was a special one,_ Sheena thought, trying to make herself feel better. The human girl laid in bed for what was probably quite some time, not crying, not thinking, not doing anything but lying there. What was she going to do? What _could_ she do? Maybe she should've expected this; she had never gotten a clear answer about why Pearl and the others were here in the first place. Maybe it was just time to go back. _But she sounded so scared, so upset. Maybe Lapis and Peridot will have answers._

It took Sheena an excessively long time to get out of bed, as it often did when she was anxious, even if it was incredibly counterproductive in this case. She slowly got herself semi-decent and out the door, setting off to the Temple; maybe she could find some answers on the way. She ran across the beach and up the stairs, throwing the door open, a little surprised that it was unlocked. "Hello?" she yelled, "Is anyone here?" Silence. Sheena looked cautiously around the house, noticing star t-shirts scattered around Steven's room, the spotlessly clean kitchen (Pearl's handiwork, no doubt), and the glowing warp pad on the other side of the room. The human girl tried to suppress her curiosity and the urge to creep around the house; she desperately wanted to get a better idea of how Pearl, Steven and their whole, um, "family" lived.

Sheena walked slowly around the small house, stopping to gaze at the Rose Quartz picture, and taking in the likeness of a woman she didn't know and would never meet, but who seemed to be looming over her life more and more. _Kind of like how she's constantly looming over this house and everyone in it,_ Sheena thought. She couldn't help but feel a little bit of resentment towards the pink gem; Rose seemed to dominate everyone's lives even if she wasn't around anymore (which Sheena realized that no one had really explained, either). And her sweet girlfriend seemed to be stuck on this woman, Sheena knew how hard it could be to move on; she struggled with that every day. But feeling like she was a replacement for some kind of space goddess was kind of an impossible standard. Not that she could talk to Pearl about it, who knows what would happen if she did? _I could try curling my hair, maybe that'll help,_ Sheena thought. _Oh my God, Sheena, no._

* * *

After a few minutes, the door flew open again and a young girl burst in, wielding a pink sword roughly the size of her entire body. "Gyah!" She shouted, pointing the weapon towards Sheena. "What are you doing in Steven's house?" The pink-haired girl jumped back in surprise, putting her hands out in front of her.

"What? "Um, sorry, I'm not looking for trouble or anything I'm just worried about Pearl and…"

At that moment, Peridot stepped in the door and waved excitedly to Sheena, "Hi, hi!"

"Oh, hey, Peridot. Lapis," she nodded at the blue gem. Something orange ran towards her. A dog? No, a…Vegetable? A barking, moving pumpkin. Of course. Sheena was barely even surprised by the weird stuff anymore.

"Guys, who is that?" The younger girl asked, slowly lowering her sword.

"Oh, this is Sheena. She's Pearl's special lady friend," Peridot giggled mischievously.

"Oh, um, really?" Connie muttered, looking curiously at the other human.

"So, what brings you here? Didn't Pearl tell you she was going to space?"

"Yeah, she did, she sounded—really freaked out. I'm pretty worried. She said they might never come back."

"Oh, I'm sure they will," Peridot placed her hand on Sheena's thigh in an attempt to be comforting. "Those Crystal Gems seem to always be beating the odds in one way or another." She led the pink-haired girl to sit down on the couch.

"What do you mean?" Sheena asked.

"Well, first of all, they won the war for this planet, somehow. We all knew that Homeworld's troops were superior—armies of huge Quartz soldiers as far as the eye could see, the finest gem technology available—granted, that was 5,000 years ago, they've come out with all kinds of shiny new stuff by now, it's incredible really, but the point is—the Crystal Gems still seem to be standing their ground against Homeworld, even after all this time. They even stopped the Cluster. They even stopped us, right Lapis?"

The blue gem turned away slightly. "Sorry. It's a little—complicated, we're still pretty new to this whole 'Crystal Gem' thing," Peri added.

"It's all so complicated," Sheena muttered, glancing back at the portrait on the wall. "And what about you?" Sheena turned to the girl in the corner, thankful to see that she had put the giant sword back in its scabbard. "What kind of gem are you? What's your story?"

"Oh, um, I'm just Connie, I'm Steven's friend. I'm just a human."

"You and me both," Sheena chuckled. "Who knew the Earth was such a crazy place?" Connie smiled somewhat uncomfortably. The pink haired girl paused suddenly. "Wait, you're the other half of Stevonnie, aren't you? I think that's what Pearl said the name was. That's adorable."

"Oh, um, yeah, Pearl told you about us fusing?" Connie blushed, and Lapis and Peridot stole glances at one another. _Fusing. That's an interesting word to use in this case._

"Yeah, I guess Connie's alright, we're protecting Beach City while Steven and the others are in space!" Peridot interrupted excitedly. "It's a pretty big job, but I think we're up to the challenge!"

"Yeah, I bet you are," Sheena laughed at the little gem.

* * *

Sheena had stayed at the Temple well into the night, watching movies, playing video games, just _talking._ The human girl hated to admit it, but this was the best night she'd had in quite a while, and with basically strangers, no less. She slowed her motorcycle down a little bit as she rode by the boardwalk, taking in the lights and the sounds, the feeling of the wind in her hair. Right. Her hair. Sheena pulled into her driveway and ran up the steps. _Where is it? It has to be here somewhere…_ She dug through her bedroom and bathroom for several minutes before she found it. She let the curling iron heat up for a minute before taking each section one by one and wrapping it around, a bit aggressively, if she was being honest. She just had to see. After she finished her hair, she wiped off all her dark makeup, then took each of her facial piercings out carefully. She then looked herself up and down in the mirror, several times. She had expected this, but she still wasn't quite ready to see it with her own eyes. "Oh my God," she whispered, "I _am_ her."


	15. Chapter 15

Hello, friends. I'm alive. This story is alive. I'm so sorry that I suck at updating, I promise I'll try to do better. Also, this chapter contains some implied drug use and sexual harassment sooo just be aware of that. Also, is anybody else's mind completely blown by Lars of The Stars and Jungle Moon?! Stevonnie is just so outrageously lovable I can't even stand it!

* * *

Sheena couldn't stop staring. The hair, the face— _If only I had a flowy, white dress,_ Sheena thought. She examined every inch of her face, trying to remind herself that she didn't have to be the less perfect version of some space war hero she'd never get to meet. _I used to be Sheena, right? Just a girl? Who didn't know about all this magic and alien stuff?_ Things were okay back then, right? _Could I go back to that? Is it even possible? What if Pearl never does come back? Could I forget, if I wanted to?_ Sheena blinked and forced herself to look away as a single tear ran down her face. She wanted nothing more than to sleep for a very long time, maybe she could even force herself to relax for a change. The girl stepped out of the bathroom and nearly ran into Jamie—she mumbled an apology and tried to move around him, but a hand grabbed her arm, causing her to flinch slightly and pull away.

Jamie studied his roommate's face. "What's with the new look? It's…nice, Sheena. Going somewhere? At _this_ hour?" He raised an eyebrow.

Sheena was really not in the mood to think of a witty comeback, so she just muttered, "No, just trying something out," as she tried to walk away.

The actor appeared unfazed, and continued, "It's…different. I don't think I would've even recognized you if you weren't in my house! Like, who are you and what have you done with my roommate? But in a good way, of course."

The pink haired girl forced a smirk and whispered a "thanks" as she was finally allowed to enter her bedroom and shut the door quickly behind her. She sunk into her bed as she felt more tears fall from her face, trying to distract herself, to think about anything else, but utterly failing. She kicked her shoes off and buried herself deeper into the blankets, pretending they didn't still retain a slight scent of Pearl. She picked up the hat that had been lent to the thin gem and placed it on her own head. Sheena stayed in that position for quite a while, willing herself to fall asleep or _something,_ just to be able to feel a little better. Suddenly, she heard a knock and Jamie's voice at the door. She was about to tell him to go away, when he let himself in and stood awkwardly in the doorway for a moment.

"Hey beautiful, I was about to go get—hey, are you okay?" The mailman stopped suddenly, quickly joining Sheena on her bed and helping her to sit up.

Sheena tried to push Jamie away, thought about lying or dismissing him, but she knew that wouldn't work. "Pearl left. She went to space, and I don't know when or if she'll be back. So that sucks." She decided against talking about the whole Rose Quartz issue; she wouldn't even know where to start on that.

Jamie nodded knowingly as he wrapped his arm tightly around the girl, trying to think of what to say. "That's terrible, there'll be other girls though, from other planets even I bet! Or maybe she'll even come back okay! Whichever would be the best thing."

Sheena knew that the mailman meant well, but he was _terrible_ at this. She tried to nod but the fact was that she didn't even know what she wanted. They sat silently for a few more minutes that felt much longer before the pink-haired girl realized she didn't know why her roommate had entered her room in the first place. She gave him a questioning look, and he sheepishly muttered, "I was just going to swing by Fish Stew for some pizza before they close," Jamie caught her eye. "And there's really nothing better for a broken heart, you know!" Sheena couldn't help but smile through her tears as she thought for a moment. As much as she didn't feel like leaving her room, that _was_ a tempting offer. Sheena was not the kind of girl to say no to cheesy goodness.

 _"Fine,"_ The girl said with an eyeroll, wiping her face. "But I am _not_ putting makeup back on." Sheena quickly slipped into her favorite Mr. Universe t-shirt before rushing out the door. _There really isn't a problem that pizza can't fix, is there?_ Sheena and Jamie strolled into the restaurant, greeting Jennie at the counter.

"Oh, hey, Jamie, and—" The Pizza girl paused, "Have I seen you before?" She gave Sheena a questioning look.

"Oh, um, maybe around," The pink-haired girl muttered. "I do consider myself a pizza enthusiast."

"I think everyone is," Jenny said lazily, "but I'm hoping you're the last ones of the night, the rave starts soon and I gotta be there!"

"Oh, is that right?" Sheena asked, barely listening.

"Yeah! Sour Cream's set is going to be off the hook! Jamie, Mystery Girl, you should totally come! It'll be a great time, I bet I could even score you some free glow sticks!"

The pink haired girl smirked as she considered the offer. "Well I can't turn that down, what do you say, James?"

" _I told you not to call me that,_ " the mailman hissed. He had no idea what the girl was playing at; not half an hour ago she was crying in her bedroom, and now she's ready to party all night with a bunch of strangers? "And what the hell?" He whispered, turning to Sheena as soon as Jenny walked away to start making their order.

"I think it'll be fun; I could use a distraction. And besides, I still don't even know anyone in this damn town, except for you and—yeah, basically just you." She shot Jamie a desperate smile, and the mailman reluctantly agreed.

* * *

The warehouse was already quite full by the time they arrived, the only light in the place coming from Sour Cream's equipment and the many glow sticks. It was…warm. This was not Sheena's first rave, far from it, but it felt different for some reason. Safe, maybe? She took Jenny's hand as the pizza girl led her into the crowd, barely aware of the sea of bodies all around her. She let herself sway to the music, just taking it all in. Jenny introduced her to Buck, the mayor's son, and Sour Cream, the DJ. It was nice to finally feel like she knew some people in this town, and even Jamie seemed to be having a good time, in his own awkward way. She caught herself wondering if Pearl had ever been to a party like this; Sheena felt sure that she hadn't. The pink haired girl took several long sips of the drink that Buck had given her, even though she wasn't entirely sure what it was. As promised, Jenny brought Sheena up to the front of the crowd and gave her more glow sticks than she even knew what to do with, but both girls laughed and waved them around, not caring. Sheena had missed going to raves like she once did in the big city; it was one of the few times when she could really let things go. As the girls rejoined the sea of humans, Sheena felt free.

Sheena didn't know how long she had been dancing for. Ten minutes? An hour? Four hours? She was a little shocked when she stepped outside for some air and saw that the sun was already up. She went to check the time on her phone, only to discover that it was completely dead, and probably had been for quite some time. _Jesus, Sheena, what happened to getting some sleep?_

The girl took a few more deep breaths before opening the door again, with the full intention of telling Jenny and the others that she was heading home. After all, Jamie had left hours ago, and surely Sour Cream had nearly run out of material by now? The girl stepped back inside and a hand grabbed her in the darkness, causing her to jump and try to pull away. "C'mon, baby, did you really think you could leave the party without having a dance with _me?_ It's Kevin Time." Or at least, that's what Sheena thought the boy said; it _was_ pretty loud inside and she had taken a few things that were making her brain a tad hazy. And seriously, who _actually_ says something that douchey? She tried to walk away from where the voice came from, but to no avail. "Kevin" followed her back into the group, trying repeatedly to grind with or on her; Sheena honestly couldn't tell which, and was getting more annoyed and uncomfortable by the second. She was used to dealing with boys and their advances, but rarely did they intimidate her the way Kevin did, and Sheena knew he wasn't going to stop, no matter how much she yelled at or pushed or ignored him. That terrified the girl. She pushed through the crowd as fast as she could, looking for Jenny or _somebody_ or even just a way to disappear.

Eventually, after what felt like hours but was surely only minutes, the girl bumped into the mayor's son—literally. Buck turned around and, seeing the panicked expression on Sheena's face and the clinger behind her, looked over his sunglasses and said, "Dude, no," stepping between the pink haired girl and Kevin. "We talked about this."

By this time, Jenny had realized what was going on and came to stand beside Buck, in front of Sheena. And the way she tore him down was a sight to behold. "Kevin, are you serious right now? Do you not know how to take a hint, or do you just enjoy being an asshole so much that you don't know how to stop? Like, has this ever actually worked on a girl? Nobody likes you, Kevin!" Jenny went on and on as Kevin attempted unsuccessfully to slink back into the crowd. But Sheena had stopped looking at the scene unfolding in front of her; her eyes were fixed on something pink. She weaved through the crowd trying to get a closer look, her height a definite advantage. She finally caught another glimpse and knew immediately what it was: A lion. Did nobody else notice it? That seemed to be the case. Sheena moved slowly near it, wondering if maybe, just maybe, there were answers to be found? Maybe the lion could lead her back to Pearl! She finally made it to the edge of the room where the feline stood patiently, clearly intent on having her follow. The lion kneeled down and, for some inexplicable reason, Sheena climbed on its back. _Girl are you still high? How is this a good idea?_ She asked herself. But Lion knew what to do: He disappeared into a portal with a deafening roar, somehow rendered completely inaudible over the music.

* * *

Sheena and Lion reappeared in a familiar place; or, at least, a place that had once been familiar. The human girl immediately recognized the building that had once been It's a Wash, even minus the sign and plus a few major dents in the exterior. How had those even happened? It wasn't long before she heard arguing in the back of the building. _Oh. That's who I'm looking for,_ she thought after she heard a distinctive, nasally yelling peppered with the barking of a certain sentient vegetable.

"Peridot, I don't know how on Earth you think you're going to get that thing up there? It's like, bigger than the entire building!" Connie yelled as Sheena turned the corner.

"Well, maybe you should have said that sooner! Oh, wait, you were sleeping!" Peridot screamed back.

"Humans, right?" Lapis muttered with an eyeroll, as Peri snuck her a high five.

"And OBVIOUSLY, I'll use my metal powers to do all the heavy lifting, and Lapis will attach it once it's in the right place. And you'll…Do whatever humans are good at!" She finished excitedly.

"You gotta try," Sheena stepped into the conversation, more interested in how this was going to pan out than actually solving the problem. These gems were just so amusing, so completely alien, and watching Connie try to handle it all was especially fun. What could Sheena say? She liked to watch the world burn.

The argument went on for a little longer between Connie and Peridot before the pink haired girl pulled Lapis away with the promise of mixing up some plaster with the gem's water powers. They had to get _something_ done, and the other two certainly weren't making it happen. Around mid-morning, Sheena's lack of sleep had started to catch up with her and her entire body and mind were completely exhausted. She was about to head home for real, when Connie shouted, "What's that in the sky?! They're back!" Sheena looked where the younger girl was pointing to see a red dot coming closer and closer at an alarming speed. "I have to be there when they land!" And with that, Connie rushed off.  
"Yeah, um, I'll catch up with you," Sheena muttered.


End file.
